Featured article: The battle of batteries: a history of innovation in alternative energy cars

The battle of batteries: a history of innovation in alternative energy cars
Karl G. Hoyer, Oslo University College, Oslo, Norway
International Journal of Alternative Propulsion 1(4) 2007, 369 - 384
The paper gives a global view on the historical development of electrical cars. It is a history described in five major waves; the first one starting about 1835 and the last one ending about 2000. With two cases, important aspects of the two last waves are described in detail. The cases are the French VEL car and the Norwegian Think car. They have had their more specific setbacks. Problems in electrochemistry have caused important limitations, as they have through the whole history of electrical cars. This is the background for the paper title: The Battle of Batteries.