Electric Vehicles – Britannica

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An electric vehicle (EV) is a car, truck, boat, plane, or other mechanized means of carrying people that is at least partially powered by an electric motor drawing energy from a rechargeable battery. [1]
EVs fall into four major categories:
Electric vehicles may seem new because of their recent popularity, but the first EV dates to the early 19th century. Hungarian Benedictine monk Ányos Jedlik invented one of the first electric motors in 1827 or 1828 and used it to power a small model car that is now in the permanent collection of the Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport. [6][7][8]
Many subsequent inventions laid the groundwork for the first successful commercially available electric car: the Electrobat. Invented in 1894 by mechanical engineer Henry G. Morris and chemist Pedro G. Salom in Philadelphia, the car weighed about 4,400 pounds, with the rechargeable batteries accounting for almost 1,600 pounds of that weight. For comparison, a 2025 four-door Honda Civic base model weighs 2,877 pounds. [6][9]
Electrobats were quiet vehicles commonly used as taxis in major cities in the late 1890s, but their popularity was fleeting. The debut of the Ford Model T in 1908 all but killed the market for electric cars. Henry Ford’s combustion engine car was twice as fast, had twice the range, and was much cheaper than the top-performing EV of the time, the Detroit Electric. By 1921 the base model Ford car cost just $370—about 12 percent of the Detroit Electric’s $2,985 starting price tag. Furthermore, as gasoline became more widely available after the discovery of crude oil in Texas (in Corsicana in 1894 and at Spindletop Hill in 1901), gas-powered cars rose in popularity. [7][10][11]
Interest in EVs was renewed by the environmental movement of the 1960s (which brought increased state and federal regulations on gas-car emissions) and the oil crises and gas shortages of the 1970s (which caused gas prices to skyrocket). The U.S. Congress passed the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act in 1976 (after overriding Pres. Gerald Ford’s veto of the bill) to support EV research and development. Among other companies releasing commercial EVs, General Motors (GM) produced an electric car based on the Chevrolet Corvair and an electric van, aptly named the Electrovair and Electrovan, respectively. The EVs of the 1960s and ’70s were generally small, short-range vehicles that were best used for city driving. [6][7][27][29]
NASA even took EVs to the Moon. GM and Boeing made electric Lunar Roving Vehicles, which astronauts drove across the Moon’s surface on the last three Apollo missions (Apollo 15 in 1971 and Apollo 16 and 17 in 1972). [6][7]
Interest in EVs continued into the late 20th century as concern about climate change once again made the vehicles popular. In 1990 California passed strict laws that required the auto industry to manufacture zero-emissions vehicles. As a result, GM manufactured 1,117 of the EV1, the first American mass-produced EV, between 1996 and 1999. But the cars were only available for three-year leases (not for purchase), and, after California loosened the emissions law, GM reclaimed the cars and crushed most of them because they were expensive to manufacture and replacement parts were scarce. About 40 of them survive, including one in Los Angeles’s Petersen Automotive Museum and another in the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan. [12][13][14]
Perhaps the most recognizable contemporary EV is the hybrid Toyota Prius, which was launched in October 1997 in Japan. The 2001 models arrived in North America in 2000, and by September 2025, Toyota had sold some 6–7 million of them on the continent. [15][16][17]
While most car manufacturers now produce hybrids or EVs in addition to gas-powered cars, few manufacturers only produce EVs. Of those—which include BYD, Lucid Motors, Polestar, Rivian, and XPeng—Tesla has become the most globally recognizable EV brand. Founded in 2003 by American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, funded in part by Elon Musk, and named after Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla, the company released its first EV, the Roadster, in 2008. [18]
So You Want to Buy a Car? What to Know Before Visiting the Dealer.
In 2024 Tesla sold the most EVs in the United States with 633,762 units sold, followed by GM (including Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC EVs) with 112,897 units. Though sales of all EVs dropped slightly during the first six months of 2025, there was a surge of sales in the third quarter (July through September), likely due to expiring federal tax credits that would not be available after September 30. However, even with the record increase in sales, EVs still made up only 10.5 percent of all vehicle sales in the U.S. [19][20]
Globally, EVs were 22 percent of all new cars sold in 2024. Nordic countries had the largest share of new-car sales of EVs: Norway at 92 percent (113,500 cars), followed by Sweden at 58 percent (157,000 cars), Denmark at 56 percent (96,100 cars), and Finland at 50 percent (37,000 cars). China, however, had the most new EVs on the road (11.3 million cars). Still, EVs account for only 4.5 percent of all cars on the road globally. [21]
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EVs not only emit no harmful emissions while in operation, but they can even be powered with electricity from alternative energy sources (such as solar panels). Furthermore, the batteries can be recycled. [22]
As NPR journalist Camila Domonoske explains,
building an electric vehicle does more damage to the climate than building a gas car does. But the gas car starts to catch up as soon as it goes its first mile…[because] building a battery is an environmental cost that’s paid once. Burning gasoline is a cost that’s paid again, and again, and again. [22]
Moreover, while EV batteries are currently fossil-fuel intensive thanks to the use of fossil-fuel energy needed to make them, two cradle-to-grave lifecycle analysis studies show that EVs have a lower climate impact overall and are thus better for the environment than gas-powered cars. [22][23][24]
When it comes to protecting the environment, we can’t always be perfect, but we can be better. Electric cars help us to be better stewards of the environment.
EVs have fewer moving parts than gas-powered cars, which translates to less maintenance. Moreover, electricity is cheaper than gas when it comes to powering cars.
A Wall Street Journal survey found that EV drivers in 15 major American cities saved between $428 and $899 per year over gas-powered car drivers. Over the course of 100,000 miles, EV drivers in those 15 cities could save between $4,000 and $9,000 in fuel costs alone. [25]
Plugless Power, an EV charger manufacturer, estimates that even in Connecticut, which is among the states with the highest residential energy costs, EV drivers still save about $29 monthly in fuel costs. [26]
As Chris Hardesty of Cox Automotive notes:
EV drivers don’t need to worry about engine oil or transmission fluid in their cars. There aren’t many fluids to monitor in an EV…[and] regenerative braking reduces wear and tear on an electric car’s brake pads, making their replacement less frequent than for gas cars. [28]
As environmentalist David M. Kuchta explains,
EVs are naturally quieter than gasoline-powered cars because they lack internal combustion engines. On traditional cars, the engine makes a combustion noise as cylinder pressure changes. The only noise made by EVs comes from their tires and the wind resistance while driving. [30]
While the lack of noise has led to concerns about pedestrian and animal safety (their quiet nature makes them difficult to hear), the United States, Australia, and the European Union have all required new EVs to make sounds when they are traveling at low speeds (at higher speeds they naturally emit more noise). [30]
EV drivers also find the cars nice to drive. Because EVs have a lower center of gravity, they have better handling and responsiveness. Electric motors also accelerate and decelerate more smoothly. [31]
As the American Lung Association notes,
Another benefit of EVs over gas powered vehicles is improved acceleration and more horsepower. Electric car motors don’t have a transmission and deliver the power directly to the wheels. As a result of this, they can go from 0–60 much faster than a traditional car.…Electric motors can also use their horsepower more efficiently because they have fewer moving parts. [31]
Most EVs rely on lithium-ion batteries that are made with lithium and cobalt. The environmental impact of lithium mining is particularly high. [32]
Martinia Igini, editor in chief of Earth.Org, explains,
Lithium mining is a process known for being extremely detrimental to the environment as well as incredibly resource-intensive, with side effects including water loss and contamination, ground destabilization, and biodiversity loss. [32]
In fact, processing lithium produces “nearly 15 tonnes [of CO₂ emissions] for every tonne of mined lithium.” [32]
Moreover, post-production EVs still create pollution because, if the cars are not charged with green energy, they still rely on electricity from fossil fuels, mainly coal to charge their batteries. [32]
Finally, EVs use lithium-ion batteries that can explode randomly while driving, in a wreck, and even while charging. While combustion engines may be more likely to explode, EV battery fires are more difficult to extinguish, can reignite, and may emit fumes containing a highly toxic cocktail of hazardous gases, including hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide. [33]
In the U.S. in 2025, the least expensive EV, the Nissan Leaf, started at $29,280. In comparison, the 2025 (gas-powered) Nissan Versa, the least expensive car in the U.S., started at $17,190, or about 41 percent less than the Leaf. [34][35]
Furthermore, the federal tax credits for new and used EVs (up to $7,500 and $4,000, respectively), established under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, were repealed on September 30, 2025. [36]
The upfront costs of an EV are also prohibitive for many car buyers. EV owners may even have to pay registration and title fees levied specifically on EVs by states to compensate for the minimal or nonexistent taxes they are paying on gas. As U.S. News reports,
Oregon, for example, has one of the best EV rebate programs in the U.S. but charges buyers of electric cars more than double the rate for registration than non-EV buyers and nearly double the title price. In neighboring Idaho, there is no tax credit or rebate program, and the state charges EV drivers an annual fee of $140. PHEV [plug-in hybrid electric vehicle] drivers in Idaho have to pay $75 per year, in addition to the state’s standard registration fees. [37]
In all, a majority of states in 2025 had such fees for EV buyers, and many offered no tax credits to offset the higher costs and additional fees of an EV. [37]
According to one estimate, fewer than 15 percent of Americans can afford to buy an EV. [38]
In a 2024 Pew Research survey of American adults, 50 percent said EVs were less reliable than gas-powered cars, which is an increase of 16 percent from 2021. [39]
There’s good reason for this opinion. Consumer Reports found that EVs have 42 percent more problems and are less reliable in general than both gas-powered and hybrid cars. Moreover, PHEVs (plug-in hybrid vehicles that combine an electric motor and battery with a combustion engine) have 70 percent more problems. [4]
In 2024 there was an average of 104 gas pumps per 1,000 road miles. On the other hand, there was an average of only 22 EV charging stations per 1,000 road miles. Plus, these charging stations are not distributed evenly; they are heavily concentrated in urban centers. [40]
Consumer sentiment reflects this “range anxiety.” A 2025 AAA survey found that 56 percent of those polled cited “a lack of convenient public charging stations,” and 55 percent cited a “fear of running out of charge while driving” as reasons for not buying a fully electric car. [41]
After trying to drive his electric F-150 Lightning truck on a long road trip, even the CEO of Ford Motor Company had to admit that “charging has been pretty challenging.” His story mirrors that of a Canadian man who encountered so many charging problems while driving from Winnipeg to Chicago in his Lightning that he had to rent a gas-powered vehicle to complete his journey. [42][43]
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