During the World War II German occupation of The Netherlands people used alternative power sources for their cars because of fuel shortages.
In this picture a Ford is pulled by a horse. The engine compartment has been converted into a driver’s seat. Holland, The Hague, May 14 1941. Photo from the Nationaal Archive of the Netherlands.
For nearly twenty years, from 1900 to 1918, Nantucket was the only place in the United States that successfully fought encroachment of the automobile within its limits. Opposing politicians on the mainland and large property owners, mostly non-residents, Nantucketers kept the island free of the “gasoline buggy” until the final vote of the town on May 15, 1918. By the narrow margin of forty – 326 to 286 – the automobile was allowed entry.
Clinton Folger (pictured below) was the mail carrier for Nantucket. Because cars were forbidden by the town, he towed his car to the state highway for driving to Siasconset. Photo and caption from the Nantucket Historical Assocation photo database.
Some places still ban cars. The Island of North Captiva, off of Florida, for example, has no cars – just golf carts and the like, and even those are limited in total number on the island.