EVs have been around for a long time, in fact, electric vehicles are about as old as combustion engine vehicles themselves, dating back to the 1800s. But while they enjoyed a period of time in which they were very competitive with combustion engines, eventually developments and improvements in the combustion engine led to the electrical cars being sidelined and largely forgotten.

Electrical vehicles stayed around throughout the 1900s, with various cars being produced, but many of these vehicles have been lost to history. Sometimes they were specialty vehicles, designed for very specific purposes, while others were meant to be mass-produced vehicles but crashed and burned before getting off the ground. Before the debut of the hugely successful Nissan Leaf, there were many unsuccessful or forgotten EVs produced or otherwise experimented with. Here are 10 pre-2000s EVs you didn't know existed.

10 Lunar Roving Vehicle

Yes the Lunar Roving Vehicle is in fact an EV! While not exactly designed for the interstate, they were driven by astronauts and three of these are currently parked on the moon. Now that's a claim to fame that no gasoline or diesel powered car can claim!

Produced in 1971 and 1972, this moon buggy saw four produced and had a range of 57 miles. Built by Boeing, it could carry two astronauts with their equipment and motor along at speeds of up to about 11 MPH.

9 Henney Kilowatt

The Henney Kilowatt was an EV produced for the 1959 model year and in the USA. This short lived electrical vehicle only saw 47 cars sold and mostly to electrical utility companies. It used the body parts from the Renault Dauphine. Its improved 1960 model could see speeds of up to about 60 MPH and a max range of about 60 miles.

Via Driving.ca

Not bad for the 50s and 60s, but still there was no way it could hope to compete with gasoline and diesel powered engines, especially then when gas was cheap before the oil crisis of the 70s.

RELATED: These Cars Are Quintessential To Understanding The History Of EVs

8 The "Hummingbirds" - NYC & London Electric Taxis

Scherl Bilderdienst Verkehrswesen Droschken, elektrische 3024 04, Morris ADN-ZB-Archiv Eine elektrische Droschke, bei der der Chauffeur auf einem erhöhten Sitz hinter seinem Fahrgast thront. Aufnahme 1904 3024-04

Believe it or not there were electric taxis in London and New York City in 1987, in an age when combustion engines were noisy and smokey and most people relied on horses.

Dubbed "hummingbirds" for their distinctive humming noise, they were only used in low numbers and had a 40 cell lead acid battery. They had a range of 50 miles with their tiny 3 horse power engines. Who wouldn't pay for a fare in one of these?

7 Chevrolet S-10 Electric

This was an early modern-day attempt by Chevy that failed to build a more modern EV. It was first introduced in 1997 and then updated the following year in 1998 before being swiftly discontinued.

Marketed primarily to utility customers this fully electric vehicle had a range of much less than 100 miles and only 492 where ever sold.

6 Enfield 8000

The Enfield 8000 was a British EV introduced in 1973 by a company based on the Isle of Wight called Enfield Automotive. This tiny two-seater car saw 120 units built in total - of which 65 were for the southern England's electricity boards and the Electricity Council.

The Enfield 8000 was powered by its lead acid batteries, could zip along at a top speed of 48 MPH. It had a usable range of around 25 miles out of an advertised optimal range of 40 miles. Developed by the Greek millionaire Giannis Goulandris the production soon shifted to Greece.

5 Chevrolet Chevette - Electrovette

Chevrolet had a go at developing an EV in the 1970s when General Motor adapted their Chevrolet Chevette into the Electrovette concept car.

Unfortunately it never saw mass production, unable to compete with the much higher performing gasoline vehicles of the time. It had a range of around 50 miles (if you limited yourself to 30 MPH) and a top speed of 53 MPH.

4 Honda EV Plus

The Honda EV Plus's claim to fame was being the very first battery electric vehicle not running on lead acid batteries - at least from the major car manufacturers. Produced from 1997 to 1999 the Honda EV Plus saw only a very modest 340-ish vehicles produced.

The Honda EV Plus was discontinued as Honda released the Honda Insight - its first hybrid vehicle. One of the purposes of the EV Plus was as a test bed for Honda's advanced battery chemistry in electric cars.

RELATED: Best & Worst Honda Models, Ranked

3 Chrysler TEVan

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Spurred on by a 1990s California "clean air agency" push, Chrysler also had a go at producing a viable EV. The Chrysler TEVan was produced from 1993 to 1995, though only 56 were ever produced and sold for the whopping sum of around $120,000 each.

Boasting a more respectable - for the time - speed of up to 70 MPH they could at least reach the speed limit on most roads. The TEVan was assembled in Canada in Chrysler's Windsor Assembly Plant just over the boarder from Detroit. The TEVan seated 5 and was powered by nickel iron or nickel cadmium batteries.

2 AMC Amitron

12 Dec 1967, Detroit, Michigan, USA --- Original caption: Development of an electronic power system automobile is the objective of a joint project between American Motors and Gulton Industries, it was announced 12/12. The AM prototype vehicle, the Armitron, is a three-passenger car designed for short-haul trips. Power for an experimental model will be provided by Gulton's lithium battery system. The wedge-shaped experimental car is 85-inches long, 69-1/2 inches wide and 46 inches high. --- Image

Joining a renewed interest in developing EVs in the 1960s the American Motors Corporation joined the fray with the curiously shaped AMC Amitron. In some ways, this experimental car was ahead of its time with a number of features including a very impressive 140-mile range, advanced batteries and regenerative braking.

Unfortunately the high costs of the batteries and teething technology issues killed the project despite the prototype being updated and renamed Electron in 1977 as AMC Amitron's concept show car for the "Concept 80" exhibition.

RELATED: The 10 Best Cars AMC Ever Made, Ranked

1 General Motors EV1

The thing that makes General Motors EV1 stand out is that it was the first mass produced EV to be purpose designed as an electric vehicle from the drawing board. Despite this, the EV1 saw a dismally short production run from 1996 to 1999.

Customers reacted positively to this purpose built EV but despite this General Motors decided controversially to cancel the project believing it to be unprofitable. They ended up not renewing their leases and recalling many of the vehicles and subsequently crushing them.

In conclusion, EVs are anything but new. Just the interest in them has been renewed with a vengeance. And now they are finally coming into their own after being overshadowed by combustion engines throughout their history.

NEXT: The Coolest Vintage EVs That The World Forgot About