Although electric cars were clean, quiet, and simple to operate, the drawback then, as now, was their limited range and long charging time. After 1915, they fell out of vogue as cars powered by internal-combustion engines and fuelled with cheap petrol gained favour.

As concerns in recent years have grown about global warming caused by carbon-dioxide emissions, scientists have begun to reconsider electricity as a fuel for vehicles. But today's drivers (U.S. consumers, based on the article's U.S.-centred context) expect a vehicle that is fuel efficient, and a fuel that is readily available in numerous locations and allows instant refuelling.

Although electric cars are fairly efficient, they require frequent refuelling, and the process is far from instantaneous. They are expensive, too, since normal use causes their US$2,000 lead-acid batteries to wear out in just a few years. And, ironically, electric cars do very little to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, because most U.S. electricity is generated by burning coal and other fossil fuels.

To gain U.S. consumer acceptance, the car of the future will need to balance the benefits of electric cars with U.S. consumers' demands for distance and dynamo. The hybrid electric vehicle holds promise as a solution to both these needs.