Tesla just made EVs popular due to climate change and the coolness factor.
But almost 125 years ago EVs were successful in the States!
Even EV taxis in NYC.
And back then that fate of the automotive industry wasn’t clear – either electric or internal combustion engine.

In New York, a company was providing electric taxis as early as 1897. They were not competing with other cars, but with horse-drawn carriages.
The Electric Car Company closed in 1907, it had more than 1,000 vehicle . They were all scrapped.