1990s to present: Revival of mass interest

After years outside the limelight, the energy crises of the 1970s and 80s brought about renewed interest in the perceived independence electric cars had from the fluctuations of the hydrocarbon energy market. At the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors President Roger Smith unveiled the GM Impact concept electric car, along with the announcement that GM would build electric cars for sale to the public.

In the early 1990s, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the government of California's "clean air agency", began a push for more fuel-efficient, lower-emissions vehicles, with the ultimate goal being a move to zero-emissions vehicles such as electric vehicles. Impressed by concept vehicles such as the Impact, CARB set guidelines that would require carmakers to make 10% of their fleets emission-free by 2003. In response, automakers soon developed electric models to comply with the new regulations; however, the automakers were widely accused of deliberate self-sabotage, failing to adequately promote their electric vehicles in order to create the false impression that consumers were not interested in electric cars, while fighting against the CARB mandate using lobbyists and lawsuits. Electric cars were expensive to develop and cost two or three times as much as equivalent gasoline cars to produce; as such, they were not a profitable enterprise for the car companies. In 2001, CARB removed its ZEV mandate, resulting in almost all production electric cars being withdrawn from the market, and in many cases destroyed by their manufacturers.

In response to a lack of major-automaker participation in the electric car industry, a number of small companies cropped up in their place, designing and marketing electric cars for the public. In 1994, the REVA Electric Car Company was established in Bangalore, India, as a joint venture between the Maini Group India and AEV of California. After seven years of research and development, it launched the REVAi, known as the G-Wiz i in the United Kingdom, in 2001. In 2007, Miles Electric Vehicles announced that it would bring the XS500, a highway-capable all-electric sedan to the US by early 2009. California company Tesla Motors, hoping to gain a foothold in the electric sports car market, released the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster in 2008.
The Think City is a popular electric car in Europe.

Throughout the 1990s, interest in fuel-efficient or environmentally friendly cars declined among Americans, who instead favored sport utility vehicles, which were affordable despite their poor fuel efficiency thanks to lower gasoline prices. American automakers chose to focus their product lines around the truck-based vehicles, which enjoyed larger profit margins than the smaller cars which were preferred in places like Europe or Japan. In 1999, the Honda Insight hybrid car became the first hybrid to be sold in North America since the little-known Woods hybrid of 1917. Hybrids, which featured a combined gasoline and electric powertrain, were seen as a balance, offering an environmentally friendly image and improved fuel economy, without being hindered by the low range of electric vehicles, albeit at an increased price over comparable gasoline cars. Sales were poor due to the lack of interest attributed to the car's small size and the lack of necessity for a fuel-efficient car at the time.
The Nissan LEAF is an electric car that is expected to be marketed in the North America, Europe, and Japan, beginning in autumn 2010.

The 2000s energy crisis brought renewed interest in hybrid and electric cars. In America, sales of the Toyota Prius (which had been on sale since 1999 in some markets) jumped, and a variety of automakers followed suit, releasing hybrid models of their own. Several began to produce new electric car prototypes, as consumers called for cars that would free them from the fluctuations of oil prices.

The global economic recession in the late 2000s led to increased calls for automakers to abandon fuel-inefficient SUVs, which were seen as a symbol of the excess that caused the recession, in favor of small cars, hybrid cars, and electric cars. The most immediate result of this was the announcement of the 2010 release of the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid car that represents the evolution of technologies pioneered by the EV1 of the 90s. The Volt will be able to travel for up to 40 mi (60 km) on battery power alone before activating an ICE to run a generator which then powers the electric motor. The batteries are recharged by plugging it into the grid.

The Nissan LEAF, due to be launched in 2010,[4] is the first all electric, zero emission five door family hatchback to be produced for the mass market. Lithium-ion battery technology, smooth body shell and advanced regenerative braking give the LEAF performance comparable to an ICE, a range of around 160 km and the capability to reach 80% recharge levels in under 30 minutes.[5] In June 2009 BMW began field testing in the U.S. of its all-electric Mini E,[6] through the leasing of 500 cars to private users in Los Angeles and the New York/New Jersey area.[7][8] A similar field test was launched in the U.K. in December 2009 with a fleet of more than forty Mini E cars.