Any new technology is not going to be perfect right off the bat.
There is a big difference however: short of some amazing invention, there is no known way of storing the electricity required.
Maybe somebody will invent something but you are looking at totally blue sky research. It might happen tomorrow, in 100 years, or never.
The electric motor drive train has not been an issue and could have been done decades ago (brushless motors with AC drives have been around for yonks, with the electronics gradually getting a little better). The obvious formula is a motor per wheel but mounted inboard of the drive shaft to avoid the unsprung weight. The rest is just straight electronics.
The lesser issue is that the electricity grid would not be able to cope if all normal cars suddenly went electric. But at least there are obvious (if hugely expensive) ways to solve that one... but I bet you that electricity prices would go through the roof; they would have to increase by 5x to 10x to match the cost of petrol or diesel, and that would be done by sticking a huge tax on it. But this would be tricky because it would make household electricity very expensive. But the govts would have no option because they need the tax from people driving around.
The Prius is a crap car and a straight diesel car would be every bit as economical, and a lot cheaper to make and buy.