Lightning in a Throttle

Electric cars from major manufacturers like Chevy and Nissan as well as startups like Tesla and Lucid Motors are bringing cutting-edge emissions-free technology to modern roads. And Formula E is bringing elite-level all-electric racing to cities worldwide. But as newfangled as these cars seem, they are far from the first. By, like, a century.

Lightning in a Throttle: How Three EVs Set Some of the Earliest Auto Racing Records is an ebook in three acts:

• A proto-hipster who dropped out of Columbia to start an electric vehicle business in Brooklyn

• A speed-crazed Belgian who battled to break the 100 km/h barrier

• An inventor whose inventions sometimes veered off track - literally - and into crowds of spectators