Electric vehicles haven't been new for a long time (in the early days of the automobile, electric cars outnumbered ICE-powered vehicles on the roads), but it's taking a lot of doing to bring them back. Starting in the late 70s, people started trying. Battery and electric motor technology was just getting good enough that they seemed viable again, but not good enough for the big players to seriously invest in a lot of it. As a result, throughout the 80s, electric cars were fun little quirky weird things and I love them all.