Such was the case in the early 1970's when presenters Valerie Singleton and John Noakes demonstrated the first production line electric car - the Enfield 8000.
Given its rather ugly and bulbous shape, odd proportions and outrageous wrap around windscreen it was still regarded as an example of pioneering technology.
We may not regard it against today's design offerings as faintly futuristic but back then it was striking and very much bucking the trend of very square and boring motor car body shapes, particularly of other home ground brands and marques.
My younger self, aged under 10 at the time of that Blue Peter broadcast fully expected that by the time I would be old enough to drive it would be in a world where electric vehicles were the most common form of transport. I wondered and daydreamed about what would be available if the pace of development in electric propulsion matched that of the emerging computer , communications and space-race technologies
John Noakes in the Blue Peter studios championed the Enfield as a car for our cities and with the ecological benefits of zero emissions and quiet operation.
Everything looked ready for a massive push towards electric cars for the masses and with the Enfield 8000 in the forefront of the revolution.
You have to wind back a few years to a challenge laid down Government Minister Tony Been for car makers to develop a prototype electric car primarily for the functional and promotional use of the UK Electricity Boards.
The likes of Ford and Bond (famous for their fluorescent orange Bug model) entered their prototypes but the winner was a relative unknown, Enfield Automotive.
The prize was an order for 66 fleet vehicles and this was the catalyst for the production line of the 8000 model to begin.
The Enfield was built on a thin tubular metal type chassis and with the main bodywork in aluminium. The reason for this combination was clear in that out of the kerbside weight of 975 kilos almost half was from the chunky lead acid batteries, reported to have been of tractor specification, and all within a vehicle shorter in length than a Mini.
The technological attributes included a better aerodynamic co-efficient than a contemporary Porsche, rapid torque generated acceleration through the automatic transmission, a top speed of 48mph which was perfectly acceptable in city and urban streets and the ability to be charged from a standard 3 pin socket.
This gave a range of around 40 miles on a full charge.
Those behind the design included top automotive engineers known for vehicles such as the Lotus Elite.
On a closer inspection many of the components may have been recognisable from other manufacturers with parts and fittings from Reliant, Hillman and from what would become British Leyland.
The marketing angle was as a family car although in reality there were only two front seats and a space behind. Motoring journalists complimented the 8000 on light steering, easy parking and as a nice drive. At a starting price of £1000 it was quite an expensive item and put into context when you could buy a Mini for £400.
The principal backer of Enfield Automotive was a Greek Shipping Millionnaire with the wealth generated by supplying seagoing tankers subsidising the move into car making.
In the fuel crisis in the mid 1970's and with around 60 of his Supertankers laid up without work the major players in the Petroleum Industry were reputed to have approached the Magnate with an offer of a long lease of the vessels but conditional on the winding up of the electric car business.
Faced with bankruptcy there was no option left and in 1976 the last Enfield rolled off the production line.
All had looked promising for mass production and global demand for the Enfield but financial, economic and conspiratorial factors would combine to kill off this threat to the fossil fuelled combustion engine and, in effect, cause the electric car to be shelved for the next 30 years.
The hopes and anticipation of my younger self looking forward to an all electric car world would be dashed and deflated in this way. Back then the problems and damage inflicted on the climate by dependency on petrol and diesel were known but powerful concerns suppressed and stifled them for their own profitable gains
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