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In years to come, when 2019 is written up in automotive history books, it’s sure to be viewed as a major turning point for electric cars.

While fully electric cars and hybrids in all their forms have been on sale in showrooms for some years (the Toyota Prius is now more than 20 years old), it’s only of late that they have really started to gain traction, largely because of something of an automotive Catch 22.

Until recently, most mainstream car makers hadn’t been convinced that there was enough demand to develop and build hybrid or electric vehicles (EVs), especially the latter, partly blaming the lack of a comprehensive