Book excerpt: Welcomed at end of the 19th century as the solution to the severe problem of horse manure in city streets, electric trucks soon became the norm for short-haul commercial deliveries. Though reliable, they were gradually replaced by gasoline-powered trucks for long-haul deliveries--although a fleet of electric milk trucks survived in Great Britain into the 1960s. Industrial electric vehicles never disappeared from factories and ports. During the past decade, with the availability of the lithium-ion battery, the electric truck is back on the road for all payloads and all distances. The fourth in a series covering the history and future of electric transport, this book chronicles the work of the innovative engineers who perfected e-trucks large and small.