Kevin A. Wilson has been writing about cars, the industry, its history, and motorsports since 1986, initially for AutoWeek magazine, where he served in several editorial roles through 2009. As a freelancer through 2016, his work appeared in Popular Mechanics, Road & Track, Automobile, and Car and Driver, among others. He was on the Car and Driver editorial staff from 2016 to 2019. Long a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, Kevin has been chief judge of the Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show for more than 15 years. He lives in Waterford, Michigan.

1 First Sparks
Electric propulsion vies with steam power and internal combustion for prominence in the early auto industry.
2 Gilded Age Status
Automotive pioneers probe battery power, but electrics remain the province of wealthy, urban consumers—as Ford’s Model T begins to change the world.
3 Success into the Shadows
Despite EV successes, the early auto industry evolves to favor gasoline cars and forges a partnership with the oil industry.
4 An Idea That Won’t Die
As the internal combustion engine establishes dominance in the interwar years, a select few electric visionaries persist.
5 Fifty Years in the Shade
Irrelevant in the marketplace, the idea of the electric car regularly resurfaces among hobbyists and those concerned about the oil industry’s viability.
6 Oil Shocks
Space Age technological advances and the oil crises plant a seed that will take decades to germinate.
7 The Pivot Point
How GM’s EV1 happened, why it faltered, and how it became the basis that culminated with the first Tesla Roadster.
8 Halfway There
The proliferation of hybrids, especially the plug-ins, familiarizes the industry and public with electric propulsion.
9 Tesla Rising
A clear-eyed view of Tesla Motors and the responses of the conventional auto
industry, rival start-ups, and regulatory agencies.
10 The Dam Breaks
The rush to electrify has nations and companies declaring the end of internal combustion, but this radical transition isn’t as easy as throwing a switch.