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Although there had been many attempts at the electric vehicle dating back to 1832 the vehicle was never practical until Thomas Parker created his own electric vehicle in 1884. Thomas Parker was also known as the Edison of Europe. https://historycollection.com/thomas-parker-invented-first-electric-car-1884/
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In 1899, the La Jamais Contente was made by a man named Camille Jenatzy. This vehicle was the first car to go over 100 km/h (or about 62 mph). It was torpedo shaped, and made of super light and super expensive material no other car has ever been made out of. https://www.novethic.fr/actualite/energie/mobilite-durable/isr-rse/a-l-origine-la-jamais-contente-la-voiture-electrique-qui-a-depasse-les-100km-h-en-1899-147748.html
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In 1960, the Henney Kilowatt was created by the Henney Motor Company. Since there was only one electric car made in the last 60 years this seemed new to most people but did not gain the traction it needed. https://group.renault.com/en/news-on-air/news/henney-kilowatt-the-american-electric-dauphine/
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1966, the Chevy Electrovair II was made by General Motors. During this time GM understood what it would take to create a fully functional, reliable, and practical electric car. GM did not have the resources to explore EV’s but used the Chevy Electrovair II just to see what they could do with what they had. https://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/13/forgotten-concept-1966-chevy-electrovair-ii/
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In 1973, the Enfield 8000 was created by a man named Giannis Goulandris. This was one of the slowest electric vehicles made in almost 75 years with a top speed of 48 mph. Not many people liked it not only because of its looks but because only about 65 of the 150 that were built actually sold. https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/guilty-pleasures-enfield-8000
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In 1978, the Electrovette was also created by General Motors. This car was made because the prices of gasoline started to rise and Chevrolet wanted to offer a great cheap alternative. https://blog.consumerguide.com/forgotten-concept-chevrolet-electrovette/
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In 1996, the EV1 was created by General Motors. This was the most produced electric car with 1,117 made. With the introduction of new batteries just a few years after production GM was forced to shut down production of the EV1. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a32944084/tested-1997-general-motors-ev1-proves-to-be-the-start-of-something-big/
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2008, the first Tesla Roadster was built by Tesla. Not many people know that Tesla existed until 2012. The Roadster started it all for Tesla, with a 5.4 0-60 which was supercar numbers back then. The Roadster did not gain much popularity because of its lack of high end power and hefty price tag of $98,000. https://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/roadster/2008/2008-tesla-roadster/
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In 2010, Nissan created the Nissan Leaf. Nissans goal was to be the first to mass produce an affordable electric vehicle, and they did. The Nissan was a huge success across the world except for the U.S. Nissan only sold 19 Nissan Leafs in 2010. In 2019 Nissan sold 450,000 Leafs. https://www.motortrend.com/news/2010-nissan-leaf-first-look/?galleryimageid=1110386
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In 2012, Tesla released the Tesla Model S in 2012. This is when Tesla started to become the talk of the town. Their new beautiful and futuristic mid-size sedan was fast and luxurious but boy did it have the price tag to match it. What was most insane about the Tesla Model S was its super fast 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds! https://www.motortrend.com/news/2012-tesla-model-s-test-and-range-verification/
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Tesla was said to release a new roadster in 2020 but due to the global pandemic and Elon Musk's poor time estimation skills it's looking like we may receive it in 2022. Which (as long as nothing beats it) will be the fastest car in the world with a 0-60 time in just 1.9 sec. https://www.tesla.com/roadster
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