Electric Trucks: A History of Delivery Vehicles, Semis, Forklifts and Others

Welcomed at end of the 19th century as the solution to the severe problem of horse manure in city streets, electric trucks soon became the norm for short-haul commercial deliveries. Though reliable, they were gradually replaced by gasoline-powered trucks for long-haul deliveries--although a fleet of electric milk trucks survived in Great Britain into the 1960s.

Industrial electric vehicles never disappeared from factories and ports. During the past decade, with the availability of the lith...