When electric motors and generators were invented/discovered, many people thought it would result in a perpetual motion machine. It doesn't work that way. if you're using an electric motor to run a generator, you lose power due to the resistance of the wiring and connections, without even trying to draw power off to do anything extra like power a vehicle.

When I ran the municipal garage, I was trying to get a test program going with my city, Mack, and Parker hydraulics for Hydraulic Launch Assist for refuse trucks. Residential refuse trucks have a crazy duty cycle: from a dead stop, accelerate at WOT for about 70', then stand on the brakes for 50' to get to the next bin. if you install a hydraulic pump/motor in the driveline and use it as a pump to charge an accumulator during braking to store the energy (fluid under pressure), then release that energy to drive the motor during acceleration, you theoretically can use a smaller engine to power the truck, use less fuel, etc. Sounds great, right? There's a similar system for city busses, but the duty cycle on refuse trucks means by pressurizing the fluid you increase it's temperature as well, and when you do it 500 times a day, your fluid overheats in about 100 stops. You end up with a HUGE reservoir and cooler for the fluid, to prevent that, and the weight of all of that equipment and fluid eats up any benefit of the system.

The bottom line is that gasoline and diesel fuel became the common motor vehicle fuels through a Darwinian process that began in the late 1800's. They are (relatively) stable, can be stored at common atmospheric temperatures and pressures (in quantities from small to huge), allow for refueling with VERY minimal training and no protective equipment, and became available essentially worldwide. EVERY alternative has significant drawbacks in at least one of those areas. You can argue that gasoline is a fire hazard, but it's (again relatively) easy to extinguish. Look at the reports on the wrecked Tesla that took over 4 hours to drown (literally) after it sat untouched in a junkyard. Forget your gloves when refusing your propane vehicle and you can lose a hand to frostbite (imagine letting your 16-year-old kid try it on their own). CNG vehicles require complete purging of the pressure tank before any maintenance work is done, OR a completely explosion-free shop be constructed with enclosed electrical systems, no spark-producing tools, etc. Hydrogen shows the most promise but again the technology is not yet mature enough for mass production.

IN MY OPINION, the move away from fossil fuels is another example of politicians trying to legislate technology. They want what they want (and WHY is a different discussion) without concern that it's not practical in today's world.