[rmu09]

IIRC there were BMW i3, Nissan Leaf (2010) and later Renault Zoe.

BMW in cooperation with Toyota has/had H2 cars (currently iX5), but it is some sort of pilot phase.

Tesla with their model 3 and supercharger network demonstrated that electric vehicles indeed are viable, and that got the ball rolling.

[rsynnott]

There was also the VW eGolf/eUp, and the pre-Zoe Renault (which IIRC was a bit of a disaster). The first Tesla didn't become available in Europe til after the Zoe came out.

EDIT: Actually, looks like the eGolf was a few months after the Tesla Model S.