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by gamblor956 2083 days ago
Mitsubishi's iMiev (2009) was the first EV to sell more than 10,000 units.

Toyota RAV4 EV was released in 2003 though it was only available for lease (leasors could buy the vehicle at the end of the lease). Indeed, the RAV4 EV 2nd Generation is the reason Tesla exists as a going concern today; without Toyota's cash infusion, Tesla would just be another Faraday Motors in car history.

Ford released an EV truck in 1998.

And the US granddaddy of them all (excluding vehicles only available to fleets) is the GM EV1, released back in 1996.

2 comments

> Mitsubishi's iMiev (2009) was the first EV to sell more than 10,000 units.

Wow, hadn't realized that one sold that well; I had it filed in my head with the Smart EQ. I'd consider all the others on that list niche impractical devices, though. So the first practical one was probably the iMiev, not the Leaf, then.

> And the US granddaddy of them all (excluding vehicles only available to fleets) is the GM EV1, released back in 1996.

Yes, GM deserves much more credit for the EV revolution than Tesla.