I'd intuitively think so, as it's mostly chemical compared to mechanical work, and that would explain why thermic engine were favoured at the time. (On top of economic reasons)
If you completely ignore the externalities of oil (which we did for a very long time). Then it’s very hard for an electric battery to compete with diesel or gasoline. Gasoline has an energy density of about 46MJ/Kg, compared to a lithium ion battery at just 0.9MJ/Kg and that’s a modern battery. A lead acid battery is just 0.15MJ/Kg.
So right out of the gate, your thermic motor can be two orders of magnitude less efficient than your electric motor, and still achieve the same range with an equivalent mass of stored energy. And that’s ignoring the fact the thermic engine burns its fuel, so does more useful work as the mass of stored energy drops.
To be quite honest, it’s astounding to me that electric traction was even remotely competitive with thermic traction back in Henry Fords era. The head start thermic engines get from such high density fuel is kind of obscene.