Before Alexandre Darracq founded with this Italian partner Ugo Stella “A.L.F.A.” (“Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili”) in 1909, he already manufactured automobiles in his homeland France. This included also the investment into electric cars, as for a short moment in time early pioneers thought that the electric engine would be the first mainstream solution. In 1895 inventor and GE co-founder Thomas Edison presented his first electric car proudly to the press and public.
Earlier, already in 1882 the Siemens und Halske company tested their electric model on a test track. It was done at the time, not with on-board batteries, but using an overhead power line.
Today consumers not only would consider buying an electric car because of its potentially positive impact on the environment, but because they are cool, fast and fun to drive. BMW already has two electric cars on the market and Daimler will follow this by 2020 with a suite of vehicles.
