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> The EV would literally not exist (to the public) in 2017 if not for Tesla. According to wikipedia a rather well known EV Nissan Leaf predates Tesla Model S b
by friendzis 9y ago
> The EV would literally not exist (to the public) in 2017 if not for Tesla.
According to wikipedia a rather well known EV Nissan Leaf predates Tesla Model S by 2 years. First hybrid Toyota Prius is 20 years old. Toyota had concepts of plug-in hybrids for quite some time. Countless local teams make electric swaps. We had electric golf cars and what not for quite some time.
What Tesla more or less pioneered is premium class performance EV and proved that there is market in this segment. They proved that not only "convenient home-work-home trip" (free parking, bus lanes, subsidies) can be market for EVs.
- ZeroGravitas 9y agoSemi-random historical aside, one of the original founders of Tesla (no longer at the company) makes the claim that Al Gore "invented" the Prius by featuring the work of some academics on hybrid engines in a televised hearing. Although ignored by the American companies he was trying to convince, Toyota ran with the idea.
- thedaemon 9y agoGM created the EV1 in 1996. They eventually scrapped the project and all of the cars. They didn't want to compete with the petrol car industry.