Oils4AsphaultOnly said:
Edit: So no, BEV's never had that advantage, or if they really did (it's hard to judge based on such old historical data during a time when information only traveled as fast as the pony express), that advantage was temporary and combustion vehicles eventually gained the cost/mile advantage until only recently.
Nope, BEVs had a cost/mile advantage regardless, but ICEs could go out further without refueling, expanding the territory covered in a given time (which was already expanded over horse coverage by BEVs); even installing intermediate depots for BEVs was cheaper than ICEs, but the time and flexibility factors were judged more important than the cost (cf. Amazon today, or why people buy SUVs they'll hardly ever need). Note that truck delivery was strictly an urban phenomenon, as there were no hard-surfaced roads outside of cities, and the rubber available at the time meant heavy vehicles like trucks had to have solid rubber tires, so they had limited speeds regardless. It didn't hurt that BEVs didn't have to be hand-cranked (the "Ford Fracture" being a common injury, when the crank kicked back) and were also quiet (mufflers not being a requirement), which is one reason they were often used by doctors, who often made house calls at night. But those same doctors often owned ICEs for touring.
The development of better tires, and the invention of the electric self-starter in 1916 (by Charles Kettering's Dayton Electric Labs Co., or as it's far better known nowadays, Delco) eliminated many of the BEV's advantages, and mass production of the go-anywhere ICE brought its costs down enough that along with better roads, it was the no-brainer choice for trucks, even though it was still more expensive per mile than a BEV.
In cities (the only place where there was electricity), personal BEVs were also cheaper per mile, but they couldn't tour, and that was what private car owners wanted to be able to do then as now, even if they did so rarely or never. In short, we're experiencing a "Back to the Future" moment.
BEVs retained their cost advantages all through that century plus,and were used for a few jobs which still matched their capabilities (milk floats in the U.K., etc.), and those are much the same jobs we're now seeing modern commercial BEVs re-acquire: mail and package P&D and similar jobs where frequent stops, low speeds and limited range with overnight charging at a central depot are acceptable, and quiet, zero emissions and low operating costs are significant pluses. As batteries and costs continue to improve the range of jobs for which BEVs are best suited will expand.