I think when it comes to electric vehicles. The big issue was the batteries. It's a hard problem. Probably too hard for the science and technology 100 years ago. It's one hard problem after another. I worked with some lithium primary cells in the mid 80's. They were amazeballs and terrifying. They had an internal 4 amp fuse for safety.
But solar, I think we really under invested. My semi-trollish comment is if we invested as much in solar as we did for nuclear we'd be 30 years ahead. Trollish because it upsets people with an emotional attachment to nuclear. But it's also flat out true. The technology was rapidly developed in the 50's and 60's but no one spent the money to mass manufacture them until early 2000's.
But solar, I think we really under invested. My semi-trollish comment is if we invested as much in solar as we did for nuclear we'd be 30 years ahead. Trollish because it upsets people with an emotional attachment to nuclear. But it's also flat out true. The technology was rapidly developed in the 50's and 60's but no one spent the money to mass manufacture them until early 2000's.