Thanks for sharing! It's interesting to look back at these early automobiles and the technology leaders of the time. I was surprised to see unique -for the times- electric land speed record vehicle from 1902 featured in an episode of White Rabbit Project recently (the Baker Torpedo).

There is something I think may be inaccurate though:

After the failed attempt in 1990s to bring electric cars back it looks like more and more manufactures are showing interest in electric cars again. That is mainly because of Tesla's huge success.

I wish that the increased activity around electric vehicle development were indeed based on manufacturer and customer interest as well as Tesla's success. It seems though that the real driver behind the EV trend is government intervention in the auto industry to promote cars that the government(s) want rather than allowing normal customer preference and manufacturer innovation to steer the course of R&D.

Examples of market distortions are:

• Tesla operating as a loss as an auto manufacturer but making money by selling Zero Emissions Vehicle Credits to car companies that don't yet have electric/hydrogen vehicles to meet the requirements of California and several other states.

• Tax credits and other incentives to EV buyers which make EVs more attractive than they otherwise would be. An example is the $7,500 federal credit. In Norway where EVs are exempt from the 25% sales tax and offered free charging the adoption rate is very high. In Denmark EV sales dropped 60% after the ending of some incentives that were in place for Danish buyers so we can see the massive difference government policy makes in the EV market.

• Government fuel economy regulations that mandate higher fleet average fuel economy. Adding EVs can raise the fleet average making their development more attractive to automakers.

I wouldn't want to see what type of smartphones we would have if there were as much 3rd party influence in that marketplace and I wish we could see what the real unfolding of innovation in the car market would look like.

Since we can't it seems good to remember that the cars in development and on the market today are not exclusively -or even primarily in some cases- the result of the desires of car buyers and the innovation of auto makers.