The EV is dead, long live the EV. It may be a surprise to note that electric vehicles are over a century old. According to the New York Times, battery-powered cars were all the rage in the early 1900s — to the point that a third of New York City’s taxis were EVs. Their fall from grace may be able to inform the modern attempt at EV resurgence… because those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.

They were… expensive. Early electric cars — such as the Baker Electric Coupe — came at a more expensive price tag than their fuel-based counterparts — a commodity that was quickly making itself available all throughout the US. But that wasn't the only obstacle… electricity was simply not all that common back then, and you couldn’t drive the cars beyond a short commute. But the oil industry was booming, and so were fuel-based vehicles, which could drive longer distances. Another reason EVs flopped the 20th century race? Sexism. Electric cars in the 20th century were mainly marketed to women due to the vehicles’ “lack of complications,” and a running perception that a smooth-operating vehicle was not “masculine enough,” Quartz notes.

Today, these obstacles remain present for modern EVs. Though they are a more efficient long-term investment, EVs typically come at a higher cost, and you can’t guarantee that you can keep it running due to limited charging stations and official maintenance providers. In the US, changes to legislation are eliminating pre-Trump administration programs intended to promote EV sales, setting the industry back according to NYT. Interestingly, while EVs continue to grapple with gender stereotypes, the modern electric car finds itself commonly associated with “toxic masculinity” instead — and Elon Musk is to blame… for that and for Tesla’s tanking sales.

The longest-running challenge? Plugging in. NYT’s Ivan Penn writes that “a big knock” against EVs was they had to be charged. “You could carry extra gas with you,” Penn reported. “You couldn’t carry extra electricity.” EV charging infrastructure is still underdeveloped worldwide, and EV owners in the homeland will only find 300 charging stations across the country, a source at Infinity EV told EnterpriseAM in December 2024. This makes travel an inconvenience, especially on long-stretching Cairo roads and during the upcoming Sahel season, and greatly limits how a consumer utilizes an EV.

But despite these obstacles, the global EV market is growing. According to the InternationalEnergy Agency, one in four cars set to be sold globally in 2025 will be electric, with global sales “on track to surpass 20 mn in 2025” according to the report (pdf). The IEA attributes the doubled EV sales in Africa last year to Egypt specifically, which in 2024 saw the sale of 2k EVs, aided by efforts by Egyptian car manufacturers to expand batteries and/or EV production lines, and a slew of government incentives to bolster local EV manufacturing. The report also notes that EVs are becoming more affordable on a global scale — the average price of an EV allegedly fell in 2024 amid “growing competition and declining battery costs.”

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