abc.net.au/news/worlds-first-electric-porsche-forgotten-history-evs-melbourne/101891670When German automaker Porsche was preparing to release its first electric vehicle in 2019, executives met with a roomful of historians to test a slogan idea: "The world's first electric Porsche.""That won't work," said Guido Eickholz, the director of the archive of the German auto-parts manufacturer, Reutter.
Long before today's sleek designs there were dozens of prototypes, some familiar-looking, others truly bizarre. "Electric carriages" had similar selling points to today's EVs: quiet, cheap to run, and suited to nipping about the city. By this point, 20 years had passed since Andreas first heard of the car. It was now the early noughties.He no longer had the car, but he knew where to find it.Over a series of long-distance phone calls and emails with Andreas, Hal told the story of converting the car.
This was evident in 1996, when the US car-maker GM rolled out the product of years of work: the first purpose-built EV of the modern era. Patented in 1976, and greatly improved in the 1980s, lithium batteries were powering everything from camcorders to mobile phones in the early 1990s.
Fun fact: EV's are known to catch fire for no reason and the fire is almost impossible to put out and guess what? You are liable for the damage. The batteries need to be replaced every 7-10 years at a cost between $13,000-$20,000.
It’s gunna get weirder yet