Living off the grid and driving an electric car is this former farmer's idea of heaven, page-56

Perpetuating the nonsense. Batteries for vehicles were improved in 1860's with the rechargeable battery. Further improvements in lead acid batteries continued until the 1900's when cheap oil drove the rise of ICE's, and EV's disappeared.
Of course then the 1980's produced the LI Ion battery. A better battery - and now that it is driving the mobility revolution, is improving in all aspects very quickly.