When was hybrid invented

The first hybrid car was in part the brainchild of a Viennese coach builder named Jacob Lohner, who felt that gas-driven cars were too noisy and smelly. To find a solution to this problem, Lohner turned to a young Austrian engineer named Ferdinand Porsche. In , when he was just 21 years old, Porsche had invented the electric wheel-hub motor, a battery-operated motor that actually fit inside the hub of a wheel.

Lohner asked Porsche to combine his in-wheel motors with one of Lohner's coaches. The result was the Lohner-Porsche Elektromobil.

This vehicle was first shown to the general public at the Paris Exposition of Although initially a purely electric vehicle, the Elektromobil soon became history's first hybrid. Faced with the problem of keeping the Elektromobil's batteries charged, Porsche added an internal combustion engine that ran a generator, making the Elektromobil the first vehicle to combine an electric motor with a gasoline-powered engine. This gas-electric hybrid could achieve a top speed of 38 miles per hour PHEVs are great if you have a short commute — if you can just use battery power, a plug-in hybrid uses no fuel.

On longer journeys the electric motor assists the engine, resulting in a lower overall MPG. Hybrid cars are considered to be more affordable to run than their conventionally-powered counterparts. This is because they have an electric motor and battery, in addition to an internal combustion engine, so they use less fuel and, as a result, you can make significant savings on fuel costs. When PHEVs run on battery power your journey costs less because electricity is much cheaper than petrol or diesel.

Hybrid vehicles are typically made up of lighter materials, meaning less energy is required to run them. The engines of hybrid cars are also lighter and smaller, which also saves a lot of energy. It's just the same as driving a conventional car, but with lower running costs. Hybrid cars run on twin-powered engines, meaning the petrol or diesel engine is significantly smaller than a traditional internal combustion engine from a single engine powered car.

The electric motor is also low power. In fact, the combined power of the petrol or diesel engine and the electric motor is often less than a traditional engine, making the hybrid car better suited to city driving, and less ideal for those in rural areas. As hybrid cars have a dual engine and advanced technology, it can be difficult for mechanics to repair these vehicles, or for hybrid car owners to even find a mechanic with the relevant expertise.

Prices therefore are higher than for traditional vehicles — however, as increasing amounts of hybrid vehicles hit the market, these costs should go down. Hybrid cars are more expensive than regular petrol or diesel powered cars, which can put many people off buying them.

However government grants are available to help cover some of the cost of brand new low-emission vehicles. The buying process for an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle is similar to a conventional car.

You have the same basic options — buy new, buy used or lease. As it turns out, the first hybrid was invented by none other than Ferdinand Porsche in , the very same Austrian-German automaker whose cars inspire the most enthusiastic motorheads today.

So, Porsche took these two sides of the automotive game and meshed them into one vehicle that would spark a huge trend in the future: the System Lohner-Porsche Mixte or Mixte, for short. The batteries were for cruising while the gasoline lent some combustive power for tougher terrain or uphill battles.

This was the very first true fusion of electric and combustion power. Charging the battery was a major pain point, forcing owners of the Mixte to lug massive pre-charged batteries around with them. For years, hybrid inventions never left the concept stage. Even through the First and Second World Wars—when new vehicles were a necessity—the brass were never properly impressed with any hybrid concepts created by automakers.

General Motors and Audi both gave it the old college try, but neither company could circumvent the heavy batteries or low marketability of such a car. In , the soaring oil crisis brought attention to rising gas prices and lowered accessibility, so the government turned to a little-supported project to help them tread water: the hybrid.

The U. Over the next couple of decades, smaller cars with smaller engines became more popular, especially when the Japanese brands gained more popularity in the U. Cars like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord and Civic became more popular and engine technology went from carbureted engines to fuel injection. During the s, automakers like GM and Toyota attempted to mass-produce electric cars in an effort to reduce greenhouse gasses.

GM released the EV1 and Toyota released the RAV4 EV, both of which had very short production runs as they did not deem profitable enough for the companies to continue making them.