Did you know that in 1884, the first production-standard electric car, capable of being reproduced and sold to the public, was unveiled? By the early 1900s, one-third of all vehicles on the road were electric. However, they began to disappear around 1920 with the advent of petrol and the rise of Henry Ford’s mass-produced cars. Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of the famous sports car brand, produced an electric vehicle called the ‘P’ in 1898. He later created the world’s first hybrid vehicle, which was powered by both electricity and a combustion engine. Mercedes-Benz also introduced an electric model called the Mercedes Mixte in 1906. This car was used as a taxi in cities and even developed into a race car by 1907. Today, we are witnessing the revival of this old technology. The first picture shows a group of working electric trucks in the UK plugged in back in 1917. Mechanical education