Actually, the electric car slipped away for the same reason that it stayed dormant until recently: batteries. Until today's batteries came along, an electric car could be no more than a "town car" because it wouldn't go very far without recharging. And of course, until very recently, it took hours to recharge.

Gas & diesel won out because they refuel quickly and can go hundreds of miles on a tank. Until Elon Musk got into the action, electric cars had a range of less than 50 miles.