"Fast-charged batteries (to 80% capacity in 10 minutes), automated battery swapping stations, public charging poles, load balancing, the entire business plan of Better Place, in-wheel motors, regenerative braking: it was all there in the late 1800s or the early 1900s. It did not help. Most surprisingly, however, is the seemingly non-existent progress of battery technology. The Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, two electric cars to be introduced on the market in 2010, have exactly the same range as the 1908 Fritchle Model A Victoria: 100 miles on a single charge" (Kris De Decker, Low-tech Magazine, via the Woodpile Report).

Interesting statement, one that warrants a bit of research.  The original article can be found online.  (Maybe I'm an odd-duck technologist, but low-tech fascinates me, because it's the history of how we've arrived at where we are.  Plus, if you're talking about plans for space colonization, you need to bootstrap somehow!)  I found reference to a Woods Motor Vehicle in the early 20th Century that was electric, and a later model that was an early hybrid electric vehicle.  The thing is, the car was basically a motorized 2-seater carriage with a top speed of 18 mph.  So there's been some improvement, just not as much as one would expect in 100 years' time.