The electric car has haunted the dreams of the self-described “forward-thinkers” for over a century. The rapid boom in electrical devices in the last quarter of the 19th century saw the creation and exhibition of untold dozens of electric carriage prototypes and production models. Electric motors dominated the fledgling market before the arrival of diesel and other combustion engines, so why do electric cars maintain such a small market share?

Simply put, electric cars sputtered and died because the technology was completely outpaced by advances in internal combustion engines. The latter produce forces unrivalled in electric motors to this day, and the burgeoning commercialization that accelerated consumer absorption only sealed the stall of this power source. Battery technology just had too many barriers to remain competitive, and oil derivatives were relatively cheap and easy to grow in a network. If the history of technology has taught us anything, it’s that rapid change doesn’t always recognize externalities such as the toxic auto emissions we are saddled with today.

In all fairness, cars have cleaned up their act a great deal – simultaneous advances in materials production, engine design, auto profile, and emissions sequestration have ensured that today’s cars bear only a thematic resemblance to the cars of yesteryear. However, the same technological advances have placed electric cars in a better position than ever to finally make an impact in the American market. The advent of lighter materials and lithium ion batteries have ensured more forgiving allowances and specifications for design, and a range of diverse-use electric cars are poised to take up the lost market-share of conventional cars.

Despite the weight of history, electric cars have been increasing at a rate of nearly 30 percent every year over the last decade. While electric cars seemed much more certain to become commonplace when crude oil was pushing $150 per barrel, there is a larger movement which is propelling massive growth in this sector. It is tied in with other popular initiatives and has become a potent cultural force, although it still exists largely in advertising campaigns and private discourse. However, all trends seem to lead to an increase in this particular set of infrastructure, and it is worthwhile to profile emerging trends in the market.

Chevrolet, and by extension General Motors, has a decades-long history of promising prototypes and concept cars which quickly die along with consumer demand. In fact, most major car companies have made forays into this territory. Chevrolet, however, publicly staked its future on the release of the Volt, a much-hyped production sedan set to arrive in 2010. The Volt pushes the limits of what can be called an electric car, since it maintains a battery-only range of only 40 miles, and supplements the rest of its functionality with an internal combustion engine. This is hardly uncommon or a strike against GM if one is an advocate of all-electric vehicles, however. The drawbacks of electric cars are well documented, and so numerous that they promoted the rise of fossil-fuel cars in the first place. Hybrid cars bridge the gap and can operate within the massive extant fuel infrastructure. While lithium ion batteries maintain larger capacities and recharge-ability for longer than ever before, they remain at best a refinement of traditional problems. Hybrids seem likely to remain dominant as a transitional element, and their greatly increased fuel efficiency will bring a compromise in every sense of the word. Hybrid technology – for its part – has attained rapid absorption among those who see it as a personal statement of character, as well as transit lines around the world who wish to reach out to a cynical public.

The most important media darling start-up company in the electric car market is undoubtedly Tesla Motors. The company has run an aggressive marketing campaign and is targeting wealthy urban dwellers as its core demographic. Since electric car functionality on highways can be difficult to deliver, sale models of electric autos run the gambit across various uses and price ranges. Most feature less space than traditional cars, and two-seater models are commonplace. All seem to be tailored to inner city residents, and often include restrictions from freeway use. Tesla Motors’ main drive in the marketplace was the production of attractive, full sedans with battery ranges of more than 200 miles, rapid acceleration capabilities, and ostensibly many of the same features to which drivers have become accustomed.

Most, if not all, automakers today have a wide range of electric-capable cars; which have stalled in various stages of production. The old reasoning is still in effect. In fact, electric cars cannot perform the same tasks as those with fossil fuels. Without the use of internal combustion engines, the landscape of the world would be shockingly different from today, and would undoubtedly demand a decrease in the amount of materials we could transport over land. Fearing reliance on often-unreliable electric cars, the American public would not have expanded as it has, geographically or numerically. A denser style of living such as the cities of one hundred years ago would dominate the landscape, and suburbs would not exist as we know them.

Without upholding specifications catering to our new demographic layout, any change in technologies will be stilted at best. As relevant inputs remain cheap, it preserves “old” technology in a realm devoid of the necessity to change. Will electric cars ever become truly mainstream and stop being status symbols for the wealthy? Only time will tell. Looking at the history of technological development, it seems that any change will require a catalyst to provide disincentives to alternatives. The span of history is littered with “good” ideas and technologies that never found relevance. Technological absorption is not judgmental or cognizant of externalities before they are made glaringly obvious, and the same will hold for electric cars. The only sure thing is that people will not back down to lesser amounts of creature comforts – assign that prediction accordingly.