You forgot to mention the electric cars built in late 1800s, early 1900s.
The very first cars were ready to run on renewables:
The diesel engine was first designed to run on peanut oil, and was then adapted to burn petrol. The Ford Model T had an adjustable carburetor that could run on gasoline, kerosene or alcohol.
The oil industry lobby surely did shape the car market as did the railway industry in Britain as you mentioned.
External combustion engines (steam) have greater efficiency and can run on a greater variety of fuels (anything that burns really), they were not usable in cars because of the lack of throttle response and difficult operation but that can be handled nowadays with an electric drivetrain like the ones in diesel-electric engines. They were portrayed as dangerous and old and research into steam engines was abandoned as the industry turned to worship the mighty bloody oil.