The world's most significant electric vehicles

Every carmaker that operates in the UK will need to electrify its range in order to continue selling new cars after 2030, though some – like Aston Martin – plan to keep the internal combustion engine around for a little longer. Banning petrol was unthinkable a decade ago, so how did we get to this point?

From a record-breaking rocket-shaped EV built over a century ago to the Volkswagen ID.3 released in 2020, join us for a look at some of the most significant EVs ever made globally.

Belgium-based Compagnie Internationale des Transports Automobiles Electriques created the rocket-shaped La Jamais Contente (which means Never Satisfied in French) in a bid to make a name for itself in the electric car segment. Speed records sold cars then, like they do now, and executives wanted the company’s image linked to performance.

Partinium, a blend of aluminium, magnesium, and tungsten, helped keep the La Jamais Contente’s weight in check, but its aerodynamic profile was spoiled by the fact that the driver sat on it, not in it. Driven by Belgian pilot Camille Jenatzy, the La Jamais Contente nonetheless became the first car to cross the 62mph mark; it maxed out at nearly 66mph in 1899.

Founded as a repair shop, Wales & Edwards turned its attention to electric delivery vehicles after World War II. It developed them to replace the horse-drawn carts that remained relatively common in the British country side during the 1940s. United Dairies (later Unigate) notably used these battery-powered three- and four-wheelers to deliver milk and other dairy products starting in 1951.

Going electric significantly reduced fuel costs and it allowed drivers to make deliveries early in the morning in complete silence. In 2020, major global companies like Amazon and UPS are looking at adopting electric vans – including a model developed and built by Rivian – for their own deliveries.

Several years before Elon Musk was born, engineer Robert Aronsson understood that selling electric cars required getting the media to talk about the technology and setting up a network of charging stations. He joined forces with Michigan-based Renault dealer Donald Swanson to turn the rear-engined 10 into an electric saloon loaded with lead-cobalt batteries. Fitted with an unusual rear-mounted spare wheel, it could reach about 62mph and travel for up to 124 miles on a charge. Aronsson demonstrated both figures by taking the car – which he called the MARS II – on a trek from Detroit to Washington D.C.

Quick-charging technology gave the MARS II an 80% charge in 45 minutes, and Aronsson even built five charging stations at Holiday Inn locations located off of I-94 between Detroit and Chicago. Although it was extremely innovative, the MARS II was ultimately slow, heavy, difficult to handle, and expensive. Historians disagree about production figures, but most claim less than 50 units were built.

Some of America’s brightest minds came together to build the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) that NASA sent to the Moon in 1971 and 1972. Petrol was ruled out from the get-go so power came from a set of in-wheel electric motors provided by General Motors-owned Delco. Non-rechargeable batteries gave the LRV about 57 miles of range and four-wheel steering significantly reduced the turning radius.

Boeing built the LRVs in Huntsville, Alabama. First sent to the Moon in 1971 on Apollo 15, the LRV allowed astronauts to gain valuable knowledge by exploring more of the lunar surface. Impractical to dismantle and bring home, three LRVs remain on the moon, though we dare say they might need a recharge by now.

Peugeot has a habit of planting its stake in a burgeoning market well before its main rivals and quickly throwing in the towel. It was one of the first European firms to build and sell cars in China, and it tried positioning EVs as a credible alternative to petrol-powered cars as early as the middle of the 1990s.

After experimenting with several electric prototypes, including a 205 and a J5 van, the French carmaker poured its expertise into a battery-powered variant of the 106 released in 1995. Its engineers made significant improvements to usability and they increased driving range to about 62 miles. The hatchback certainly didn’t qualify for the long-range label, but it was well-suited to short trips in urban settings.

Citroën put this technology in the Saxo, too, but both hatchbacks were overly expensive, especially considering buyers needed to hire batteries. Production ended in 2003 after about 2270 units of the 106 and approximately 3540 examples of the Saxo were built by French coachbuilder Heuliez.

General Motors released what was arguably the first modern electric car over a decade before Tesla introduced its first model. Launched as a 1997 model in 1996, the EV1 was a well-funded attempt at making a modern, highway-capable electric car that could be used daily by commuters. It wore a futuristic design and it was built with state-of-the-art technology developed specifically for it. Its battery initially was lead-acid, but later versions featured Nickel Metal Hydride. The range was 70-90 miles.

More than 1000 motorists in the United States put an EV1 in their driveway through a lease program. General Motors executives warned drivers that they were participating in “a real-world engineering evaluation” and that they might need to return the EV1 at any point with little or no prior notice. That’s exactly what happened; in 2003, General Motors recalled the 1117 EV1s it had let loose on American roads and crushed most of them. Only a small handful survived.

In 2020, every truck manufacturer in America wants a slice of the electric pickup segment. Chevrolet landed in it in 1997 when it electrified the S-10 using components borrowed from the General Motors EV1. Early on, the front-wheel-drive model offered users a maximum driving range of about 40 miles, but an improved battery pack made optional in 1998 increased that figure to around 80 miles.

Chevrolet built 492 units of the truck, all with a regular cab and a short box. 60 of those were sold to customers, and the rest were put in the hands of fleet operators (including power companies and the Air Force) across the nation. Few survive because Chevrolet destroyed most of the trucks it took back. Chevrolet is preparing to return to the segment with an electric Silverado (or Silverado-like) pickup due out in the early 2020s. GMC will sell at least two battery-powered pickups, too.

The original Toyota Prius arrived in Japan in 1997 as a hybrid, and it has never been electric, but it deserves a mention because it played a significant role in the democratisation of electrified technology. It almost singlehandedly shifted the automotive industry’s focus towards electrification. While the idea of using an electric motor to supplement an internal combustion engine is over a century old, the Prius stands proud as the first mass-produced hybrid that won over customers all over the globe.

It quickly evolved from a dowdy outgrowth of the Toyota range to the hybrid segment’s poster child. 2020’s crop of petrol-electric models, ranging from ecobonoxes to supercars, all owe their existence to the Prius.

We’d need more than two hands to count the number of electric SUVs scheduled to make their debut during the first half of the 2020s. Toyota beat all of its rivals to this segment when it released an electric version of the first-generation RAV4 in 1997.

It looked a lot like its petrol-burning counterpart but powertrain-specific stickers and the lack of a rear-mounted spare tyre set it apart. Production continued until 2003. Most went to fleets but a handful of examples were sold to private buyers in California.

Released in 2010, the first-generation Nissan Leaf was developed for users who wanted a basic daily driver that happened to be electric. It wasn’t shockingly quick, lavishly appointed or particularly stylish. It arrived as a practical front-wheel-drive hatchback with four doors, five seats and a useful boot.

At launch, the Leaf was powered by a 24kWh lithium-ion battery pack that delivered 73 miles of range, according to America’s EPA. Nissan later upgraded the hatchback with more range – it reached the 107-mile threshold for the 2016 model year – and it released the second-generation Leaf for 2018. Now offered in two variants, the Leaf is one of the best-selling electric cars in the world. Nissan built the 100,000th Leaf in 2014, and it sold the 450,000th example in early 2020.

Few would praise the Bolloré BlueCar as Pininfarina’s best design effort. Its interior is built with garden shed-grade plastic, so finding something positive to say about its passenger compartment is difficult. It nonetheless holds a more important spot in the history of the electric car than many realise because it was created largely for car-sharing programs in urban centres.

Thousands were built in Italy and dispatched globally, from Indianapolis to Paris, where anyone with a smartphone could rent one for a few days or a few minutes. Many motorists got their first taste of an EV behind the wheel of a BlueCar.

Many carmakers talk endlessly about bringing electric technology to the mainstream. Renault did it quietly when it released the first-generation Zoe in 2012. It was a bold move, because the hatchback went on sale well before demand for electric cars picked up, and several years before government officials around the world began drumming the internal combustion engine off the stage.

At launch, the Zoe was built on a 22kWh lithium-ion battery pack that gave it about 130 miles of range. It’s still available in 2020, though it received several updates during the 2010s, and it now offers about 245 miles of driving range thanks to a 52kWh battery. We’re still waiting for the performance variant.

Tesla elbowed its way onto the automotive scene when it launched the Model S in 2012. It developed the saloon in-house and it envisioned it as an electric car from the get-go. Making a variant with a V8, or even a two-cylinder range extender, was out of the question. And, unlike the Roadster, the company’s Lotus-based first model, the Model S was created to be mass produced over an extended period of time.

With the Model S, Tesla proved that an electric car could be much more than a penalty box for California-dwelling environmentalists. It could also be quick, luxurious, and desirable. It’s still available new in 2020, and it offers motorists up to 402 miles of driving range in its most capable configuration. The Model S was the first production EV to show that electric cars could replace conventionally-powered cars.

Electric technology didn’t return to the Toyota RAV4 until 2012, when an EV based on the second-generation model made its debut. It was even more forward-thinking than its predecessor, in part because its powertrain was built with components provided by Tesla. At the time, Toyota quoted a maximum driving range of 120 miles and a 100mph top speed when motorists engaged the Sport mode. About 2500 units of the second-generation RAV4 EV were sold exclusively in California.

Had the partnership continued, Toyota might be the industry’s electric car leader in 2020, and Tesla may be little more than a supplier. The two companies chose to go their separate ways, however.

EVs began picking up market share in the early 2010s but most were so-called compliance cars built strictly to satisfy Californian lawmakers. Chevrolet, Fiat, and Ford – among many others – merely took an existing model and replaced the petrol engine with an electric motor before calling it a day.

BMW instead went through the trouble of developing the i3 from scratch using expensive materials like aluminium and carbonfibre to offset the battery pack’s weight. Stylists gave the model a head-turning design inside and out that has aged surprisingly well. BMW still sells the i3 in 2020, seven years after its launch, and regular drivetrain improvements have increased its range from 81 to about 153 miles.

Built in a tent, and initially plagued with quality-related problems, the Tesla Model 3 faced tall odds when it began reaching customers in 2017. And yet, the California-based firm persevered and turned its smallest saloon into the best-selling electric car globally. Still sold in 2020, the Model 3 packs the performance and the technology that the Model S is known for in a cheaper, more compact package.

An electric motor is smaller than a comparable four-, six-, or eight-cylinder engine. Jaguar took full advantage of the packaging possibilities offered by electrification when it released the I-Pace, its first series-produced EV, in 2018. It’s recognisable as a member of the Jaguar family but it’s pegged at the intersection of SUVs and saloons. Its design is characterised by unusually short overhangs and an extended wheelbase that clears up a generous amount of space in the cabin. It received a 234-mile range rating from the EPA after its launch, though that figure increased to 246 miles in 2019.

Autocar gave the I-Pace 4.5 stars. We praised its genuinely innovative design and its seamless performance, and we concluded that Jaguar has produced a true driver’s car.

Porsche’s first series-produced electric car was also the first serious rival that the Tesla Model S had to compete against. Seeing a Porsche fight in the EV arena was surprising because the German carmaker is primarily known for loud, high-octane machines, like the 911 and the Cayenne. It’s a formula that works wonders, however. Autocar gave it a coveted five-star rating after putting it through its paces.

Several variants of the Taycan are available, ranging from the base model (402bhp) to the Turbo S (751bhp). Note that unlocking these figures requires engaging an Overboost function. Porsche also developed an innovative 800-volt electrical system that significantly reduces charging times.

Volkswagen’s ID.3 is significant because, as a replacement for the E-Golf, it’s an electric alternative to one of the world’s best-selling cars. It’s about as long and as wide as the perennially popular Golf, though it’s inevitably heavier and more expensive, and it wears a far more extroverted design. It’s also rear-wheel-drive, which marks an unexpected return to its roots for Volkswagen.

Models like the ID.3 can help electric cars merge into the mainstream. Autocar gave it a four-star rating.

Lotus hopes to make a splash in the electric car segment with the Evija. Limited to 130 units worldwide, it’s the company’s first battery-powered model and its 1923bhp output makes it one of the most powerful cars on the planet. Lotus quotes a 0-62mph time of less than three seconds. It’s also the first all-new Lotus model in more than a decade and the first one launched under Geely ownership.

Lotus is aiming for about 250 miles of driving range. Looking ahead, it told us the Evija’s design language and technology will permeate smaller, more affordable models during the 2020s. It’s part of a crop of upcoming hypercars that illustrate ways to bring electric technology to the industry’s upper echelons.