It might have resulted in a better world, less oil consumption and all that. But who knows? I wouldn’t be surprised if the solution they came up with was to just use some slow charging tech and swap them at the battery-station. Hand over your spent battery to the local attendant, he’ll either bring it in and pay some recycling fee or chuck it in a nearby creek for free.
> It might have resulted in a better world, less oil consumption and all that.
Considering pretty much all power back then was produced by burning coal and that lead acid batteries are not exactly environmentally friendly it's not that obvious.
