Electric cars were popular among well-to-do women until about 1930. Women did not want to deal with hand-cranked starters, pre-synchromesh gearboxes, manual chokes, and the like.
Not to mention the manual control of ignition advance/retard which was common back then as well.
As internal combustion technology improved (electric start, better gearboxes, automatic choke, etc.) electrics faded from the scene.
It's interesting to compare how certain features became accepted as standard in some places while still regarded as luxuries in others.
For example, British cars with a normal carbureted engine still had manual chokes
decades after automatic chokes became standard in Detroit.
As for automatic transmission, it's still only a tiny proportion of vehicles which are so equipped in the U.K.
