Tesla was not the first electric-car company, nor was its 2008 Roadster the beginning of modern electric motoring. Electric vehicles were already common in the United States around 1900, returned in limited form during the 1970s oil crisis, and went through a regulation-driven wave of leases and fleet tests in the 1990s. The ten vehicles below show what changed—and what did not—before Tesla made long-range, high-performance EVs commercially visible.
Electric cars existed long before Tesla
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that electric vehicles made up about one-third of vehicles on American roads around 1900. They were quiet and mechanically simple, but gasoline cars benefited from cheaper fuel, expanding roads, inexpensive oil and the electric starter. Those advantages helped push battery cars out of the mainstream by about 1935.
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The next revival followed the 1973 oil shock. Congress authorized federal electric-vehicle research through the 1976 Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act. In the 1990s, California emissions rules, the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments and the 1992 Energy Policy Act encouraged manufacturers to build vehicles for demonstrations, fleets and carefully controlled consumer leases.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →That history matters because the pre-Tesla cars were not one failed product line. They were different experiments: a city runabout, a minivan, pickups, a wagon, an SUV, a concept car and a purpose-built coupe. Some were sold, some leased and some never went beyond testing.
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Ten pre-Tesla EVs and the problem each one addressed
| Vehicle | Era and format | Primary use or business model | Documented battery, range or performance | What it anticipated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia electric car | Early 1900s; passenger car | Urban personal transport; early retail market | Not stated | The first electric-car market and city-focused use |
| Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar | 1970s; small low-speed car | Oil-crisis-era urban experiment | Typical 1970s EVs reached about 45 mph and 40 miles, according to the DOE; CitiCar-specific figures not stated | Simple, short-trip commuter EVs |
| Chrysler TEVan | 1990s; minivan | Regulation-era testing and fleet use | Not stated | Electrifying a practical family and commercial body style |
| GM Impact | 1990 concept; two-seat coupe | Technology demonstrator | Wind resistance reduced by more than a third; other figures not stated | The aerodynamic, purpose-built EV later developed as the EV1 |
| General Motors EV1 | 1996–2001; two-seat coupe | Consumer leases | 80-mile range and 0–50 mph in seven seconds, as described by the DOE | A dedicated EV drivetrain, aerodynamic body and connected charging experience |
| Ford Ranger EV | 1990s; pickup | Leased vehicle and fleet application | Not stated | Battery power in a familiar utility vehicle |
| Honda EV Plus | 1990s; hatchback | Consumer lease program | Not stated | Everyday passenger-car packaging and controlled user trials |
| Nissan Altra EV | 1990s; wagon | Battery and fleet-deployment experiment | Lithium battery; range not stated | Early use of lithium chemistry and practical wagon packaging |
| Chevrolet S-10 EV | 1990s; pickup | Utility and fleet testing | Not stated | Commercial and work-oriented EV applications |
| Toyota RAV4 EV | 1997-era first generation; SUV | Leased vehicle | Not stated | The idea that an electric vehicle could be an SUV |
1. Columbia electric car: the first electric-car boom
Columbia represents the early-1900s electric-car market rather than a single modern-style model launch. At the time, roughly one in three vehicles in the United States was electric. These cars suited city driving, where daily distances were short and charging could occur at home or at a local facility.
Their weakness was geographic. As roads improved and motorists wanted to travel farther, gasoline cars could be refueled quickly and cheaply. The electric starter removed one of gasoline cars’ most annoying drawbacks, while mass production and low-cost oil improved their economics. Electric cars therefore lost their early advantage without any single technical failure deciding the outcome.
2. Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar: the oil-crisis runabout
The CitiCar was a deliberately small, low-speed response to the 1970s energy crisis. It was most useful for short urban trips, where modest performance mattered less than avoiding gasoline.
The Department of Energy describes typical 1970s EV performance as about 45 mph and 40 miles of range. Those figures explain both the appeal and the limit: a CitiCar-like vehicle could cover a commute or errands, but it was not a substitute for a conventional car on highways or long journeys. The model helped re-establish the idea that a battery vehicle could be built quickly for a specific urban job.
3. Chrysler TEVan: putting batteries in a minivan
Chrysler’s TEVan was an early-1990s electric minivan produced in the period when emissions rules and government policy pushed manufacturers into structured experiments. Its importance is less a headline specification than its shape. Instead of treating an EV as a tiny commuter pod, Chrysler applied electric propulsion to a practical van format.
The TEVan illustrates how manufacturers tested vehicles around predictable routes, charging access and fleet operators. A minivan could carry people or equipment, but its size and weight also made battery limitations more consequential than they were in a lightweight city car.
4. GM Impact: the concept that became the EV1
General Motors unveiled the Impact at the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show. GM says the concept drew on the company’s Sunraycer solar-racing work and aerodynamic experience; its design reduced wind resistance by more than a third. GM Heritage calls the sporty two-seat coupe the predecessor to the EV1 and the start of an industry-wide effort to reduce emissions and fossil-fuel dependence.
The Impact was not a mass-market product. It was a proof of concept showing that an electric car could be sleek, purpose-built and engineered around efficiency rather than converted from a gasoline model. That design and development path led directly to GM’s consumer lease program.
5. General Motors EV1: the defining 1990s lease car
The EV1 was a purpose-built two-seat electric coupe offered to consumers through leases beginning in 1996. Smithsonian archival records document its development from the Impact and describe the program’s lease-based rollout. The Smithsonian summary characterizes it as “the first zero-emissions car to be released to consumers.”
The Department of Energy lists an 80-mile range and 0–50 mph acceleration in seven seconds. Those numbers made the EV1 substantially more capable than the typical 1970s electric car, while its aerodynamic body reduced the energy required at speed. It still faced the practical burdens of battery cost, charging access and limited market scale.
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GM ended the program in 2001. The DOE states that high production costs made the EV1 commercially unviable. The EV1 therefore demonstrated that an electric car could be quick, quiet and desirable without proving that a manufacturer could profitably build one in that regulatory and battery environment.
6. Ford Ranger EV: a pickup instead of a science project
The Ford Ranger EV adapted battery power to a familiar compact-pickup body. Smithsonian exhibition material lists it among the leased electric vehicles of the 1990s. That format mattered to customers who needed an open cargo bed, and to fleets whose routes could be planned in advance.
A pickup also exposed the compromises of the period: carrying capacity, payload and useful range all competed for the same limited battery energy. The Ranger EV showed that electrification did not have to mean abandoning conventional vehicle types, even if the business case remained narrow.
7. Honda EV Plus: a leased everyday hatchback
Honda’s EV Plus was another 1990s leased electric vehicle identified in Smithsonian material. Its hatchback format targeted ordinary passenger use rather than a specialty utility role.
Like other programs of the period, the lease structure let Honda place cars with selected drivers while retaining control of service, battery data and eventual vehicle disposition. It was a practical way to learn about real-world charging and reliability when battery technology and public infrastructure were not ready for unrestricted national sales.
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8. Nissan Altra EV: an early lithium-battery test
The Nissan Altra EV was a wagon identified in the RCA electric-vehicle timeline and is notable for using a lithium battery. It combined a useful cargo-and-passenger body with an early experiment in a chemistry that would later become central to modern EVs.
The Altra should not be treated as equivalent to a current long-range crossover. Its historical value is that manufacturers were already evaluating lithium technology and fleet deployment before Tesla’s Roadster made lithium-ion propulsion famous to a mass audience.
9. Chevrolet S-10 EV: utility electrification
Chevrolet’s S-10 EV brought electric propulsion to a compact pickup, complementing the passenger-focused EV1 and hatchbacks from Honda. The model appears in the RCA timeline as part of the 1990s wave.
Its role was illustrative: work vehicles return to the same depot, follow known routes and can charge during scheduled downtime. Those conditions are more favorable to electrification than an owner’s unpredictable long-distance travel, which is why utility vehicles featured prominently in early programs.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute10. Toyota RAV4 EV: the SUV arrives early
The first-generation, 1997-era Toyota RAV4 EV shows that the pre-Tesla wave reached the SUV format. Smithsonian exhibition material lists it among leased electric vehicles.
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An SUV offered a higher seating position and useful interior volume, but its larger frontal area and mass made efficiency harder than in a small coupe. The RAV4 EV nevertheless anticipated a central feature of today’s market: buyers do not all want the same body style, and an electric lineup must eventually include practical crossovers as well as compact cars.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the early programs disappeared
Range and refueling did not match the roads people wanted to drive
Early electric cars worked best in towns, but expanding road networks encouraged longer trips. Batteries stored far less usable energy per kilogram than gasoline, and charging took much longer than filling a tank. Those constraints mattered more as suburbs and highways spread.
The 1970s cars were useful only inside a narrow performance envelope
A vehicle with roughly 45 mph of speed and 40 miles of range could serve a defined commute but could not replace a household’s only car. The oil crisis created urgency, yet urgency did not remove the limitations of batteries, motors, charging equipment or small production runs.
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The 1990s revival depended on regulation and controlled trials
California rules, federal legislation and emissions targets created a reason to build EVs, but many programs were leases or fleet tests rather than unrestricted retail products. That structure reflected uncertainty about battery life, residual value, servicing and customer demand.
Cost prevented scale
The EV1’s outcome makes the commercial problem explicit: the DOE says high production costs made it unviable. Similar economics affected other low-volume programs. Without large production volumes, expensive batteries and dedicated components remained expensive; without lower prices and convenient charging, mass demand was difficult to create.
What these vehicles gave Tesla to build on
- Purpose-built efficiency: The Impact and EV1 showed the value of aerodynamic bodies designed around electric propulsion.
- Different body styles: The TEVan, Ranger EV, S-10 EV and RAV4 EV demonstrated that electrification could extend beyond small commuter cars.
- Real-world customer data: Lease programs created controlled populations of drivers and exposed manufacturers to charging, maintenance and battery-life questions.
- Battery experimentation: The Altra EV’s lithium battery work foreshadowed the chemistry that would underpin later high-energy EVs.
- Policy experience: The 1990s wave showed how emissions rules could start an industry, while cost and infrastructure determined whether it could survive without mandates.
When Tesla launched the Roadster in 2008, it entered a field whose technical and commercial lessons had been accumulating for more than a century. Tesla’s significance was not inventing electric propulsion; it was combining improved lithium-ion batteries, software, performance and a new sales strategy at a moment when costs, policy and consumer expectations were finally moving in the same direction.
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