Early electric vehicles thrived through the end of the 19th century, and into the 1910s and 1920s. One, La Jamais Contente, even briefly held the title of fastest car in the world in 1899.

The All-Electric EV1 (1996-1999) In the late 1990s, to meet California's environmental deadline, General Motors built and leased more than a thousand EV1s. In 2003, to the great disappointment of ...