Electric cars were around long before most people realize.

Take this 1898 Jeantaud electric carriage from Paris. It looks like something you’d expect to see pulling up to a Victorian-era hotel, but it was powered by electricity over a century ago.

And here’s the part I love: in 1899, a Jeantaud electric car helped push the land speed record to 39 mph. At a time when the automobile itself was still a novelty, electric cars were already competing for speed records.

We tend to think of electric vehicles as something new, but the early days of motoring were actually a real mix of electric, steam, and gasoline powered machines. Electric cars had some real advantages back then, especially when starting a gasoline engine could be an adventure of its own.

Gasoline eventually won out for a lot of reasons, but it’s fascinating to see how some of these early ideas have come full circle.

A lot of automotive history is hiding in plain sight. This little carriage is a pretty good reminder that the future of motoring has a long past.