A look at electric car making history, then, now and next

Electric cars were introduced in the 1890s. They only had about 50 miles of range between charges, but they wouldn’t break your arm starting them and they didn’t make loud noises and scare horses. Internal combustion engine cars weren’t reliable, gasoline wasn’t widely available, tires on all car types were unreliable and roads were bad. As late as 1905, electric, steam and ICE cars split the market with about a 33% market share each.

Steam and ICE cars gradually got better tires, electric starters and better roads. The first Indy 500, in 1911, proved that an ICE car could run 500 miles! (Stea...