The Electric Rider notes that, "By the year 1900, electric cars were actually gaining popularity with urban users who appreciated the simplicity and lack of smelly smoke. Believe it or not, during the first decade of the 20th century electric cars accounted for a third of traffic on U.S. roads. By this time the first gas-electric hybrid car had already been invented by none other than Ferdinand Porsche... [and] famous inventor Thomas Edison was so convinced that the electric car was the future that he spent considerable time trying to improve battery technology.