Oil majors head downstream for EV assets

You could be forgiven for thinking that electric motoring is a relatively modern concept, yet electric vehicles (EVs) predate the internal combustion engine by around 50 years. The technology was largely overlooked until the launch of General Motors’ EV1 in the early 1990s. Despite apparent public interest (the vehicles were leased to drivers in California and Arizona), General Motors (US:GM) eventually canned the project once management decided it wasn’t commercially viable, although critics of the decision believe that it may have been prompted by the realisation that the roll-out of EVs would eventually start to eat into the auto giant’s lucrative spare parts business. Fewer moving parts; fewer replacements needed.