We've had a few dud booms in the last fifteen years. 3D TV. VR. Metaverse. Electric cars in the US. They all worked technically, but just didn't catch on.
I assume you mean electric cars since they were more of a "real product", but I have to say I think they were pushed too early and too fast. I am super curious how many early Nissan Leafs quickly ended up in the landfill due to the attempt to use premature battery tech.
Toyota is kinda on the wrong side of this one now (lagging) but they had an idea that larger and larger hybrids should have been the way (like going from regular hybrid to PHEV to eventually fully electric). Subsidizing less (like $3k not $7k) on a whole bunch more hybrids would have done a lot more to influence real adoption and rack up fuel efficient miles than purely electric cars. A lot of people don't get hybrids cause they are like ~$8k ish more than basic gas and the math doesn't quite work out for people for a long time, tilting that math would have made a big difference.
Especially for people who live in the city but sometimes drive long distance and only have one car, a PHEV is so ideal compared to having to have two cars or go rent or something.
