Early days Mixte Hybrid was the first petrol-electric hybrid
automobile. William H. Patton filed a patent application for a petrol-electric hybrid rail-car propulsion system in early 1889, and for a similar hybrid boat propulsion system in mid-1889. He went on to test and market the Patton Motor Car, a gas-electric hybrid system used to drive
tram cars and small
locomotives. A petrol engine drove a generator that served to charge a
lead acid battery in parallel with the traction motors. A conventional
series-parallel controller was used for the
traction motors. A prototype was built in 1889, an experimental tram car was run in
Pullman, Illinois, in 1891, and a production locomotive was sold to a
street railway company in
Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 1897. In 1896, the Armstrong Phaeton was developed by Harry E. Dey and built by the
Armstrong Company of Bridgeport, CT for the Roger Mechanical Carriage Company. Though there were steam, electric, and internal combustion vehicles introduced in the early days, the Armstrong Phaeton was innovative with many firsts. Not only did it have a petrol powered 6.5-litre, two-cylinder engine, but also a dynamo flywheel connected to an onboard battery. The dynamo and regenerative braking were used to charge the battery. Its electric starter was used 16 years before Cadillac's. The dynamo also provided ignition spark and powered the electric lamps. The Phaeton also had the first semi-automatic transmission (no manual clutch). The exhaust system was an integrated structural component of the vehicle. The Armstrong Phaeton's motor was too powerful; the torque damaged the carriage wheels repeatedly. In 1900, while employed at Lohner Coach Factory,
Ferdinand Porsche developed the
Mixte, a 4WD series-hybrid version of "
System Lohner–Porsche" electric carriage that previously appeared in
1900 Paris World Fair. George Fischer sold hybrid buses to England in 1901; Knight Neftal produced a racing hybrid in 1902. In 1905,
Henri Pieper of Germany/Belgium introduced a
hybrid vehicle with an electric motor/generator, batteries, and a small petrol engine. It used the electric motor to charge its batteries at cruise speed and used both motors to accelerate or climb a hill. The Pieper factory was taken over by
Impéria, after Pieper died. The 1915
Dual Power, made by the
Woods Motor Vehicle electric car maker, had a four-cylinder
ICE and an electric motor. Below the electric motor alone drove the vehicle, drawing power from a battery pack, and above this speed the "main" engine cut in to take the car up to its top speed. About 600 were made up to 1918. The Woods hybrid was a commercial failure, proving to be too slow for its price, and too difficult to service. In England, the prototype
Lanchester petrol-electric car was made in 1927. It was not a success, but the vehicle is on display in
Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum. The
United States Army's 1928
Experimental Motorized Force tested a petrol-electric bus in a truck convoy. In 1931,
Erich Gaichen invented and drove from Altenburg to Berlin a 1/2 horsepower electric car containing features later incorporated into hybrid cars. Its maximum speed was , but it was licensed by the Motor Transport Office, taxed by the German Revenue Department and patented by the German Reichs-Patent Amt. The car battery was
re-charged by the motor when the car went downhill. Additional power to charge the battery was provided by a cylinder of compressed air which was re-charged by small air pumps activated by vibrations of the chassis and the brakes and by igniting oxyhydrogen gas. No production beyond the prototype was reported. During the Second World War, Ferdinand Porsche sought to use his firm's experience in hybrid drivetrain design for powering armoured fighting vehicles for Nazi Germany. A series of designs, starting with the
VK 3001 (P), the unsuccessful
VK 4501 (P) heavy tank prototype (which became the
Elefant tank destroyer) and concluding with the heaviest armoured fighting vehicle ever prototyped, the
Panzerkampfwagen Maus of nearly 190 tonnes in weight, were just two examples of a number of planned Wehrmacht "weapons systems" (including
the highly-"electrified" subsystems on the Fw 191 bomber project), crippled in their development by the then-substandard supplies of
electrical-grade copper, required for the electric final drives on Porsche's armoured fighting vehicle powertrain designs.
Predecessors of present technology The
regenerative braking system, a core design concept of most modern production HEVs, was developed in 1967 for the
American Motors Amitron and called
Energy Regeneration Brake by AMC. This completely
battery powered urban
concept car was recharged by braking, thus increasing the range of the automobile. The AMC Amitron was first use of regenerative braking technology in the U.S. A more recent working prototype of the HEV was built by
Victor Wouk (one of the scientists involved with the
Henney Kilowatt, the first transistor-based electric car) and Dr. Charles L Rosen. Wouk's work with HEVs in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the title as the "Godfather of the Hybrid". They installed a prototype hybrid drivetrain (with a
electric motor) into a 1972
Buick Skylark provided by GM for the 1970 Federal Clean Car Incentive Program, but the program was stopped by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1976 while Eric Stork, the head of the EPA's vehicle emissions control program at the time, was accused of a prejudicial
coverup. In 1979 the
Fiat 131 Ibrido was presented in Detroit, a marching prototype made by the CRF (Fiat Research Center). The engine compartment was composed by the 903cc borrowed from the
Fiat 127, set to output 33 hp only and coupled to a 20 kW electric motor. The scheme proposed by
Fiat is defined as "parallel hybrid": the petrol engine is connected to the differential with a 1:1 direct gear ratio, without gearbox, instead of the clutch there was an 8-inch torque converter followed by the transmission shaft on which the rotor of the electric motor is keyed, the latter powered by a 12-batteries pack. The regenerative brake concept was further developed in the early 1980s by David Arthurs, an
electrical engineer, using
off-the shelf components, military surplus, and an
Opel GT. The
voltage controller to link the batteries, motor (a jet-engine starter motor), and DC
generator was Arthurs'. The vehicle exhibited
fuel efficiency, and plans for it were marketed by
Mother Earth News. In 1982,
Fritz Karl Preikschat invented an electric propulsion and braking system for cars based on regenerative braking. While clearly not the only patent relating to the hybrid electric vehicle, the patent was important based on 120+ subsequent patents directly citing it. equipped with the tried and tested
Alfasud boxer engine (1,500cc, 95 HP) combined with a three-phase asynchronous electric motor (16 HP, 6.1 kgm of torque) supplied by
Ansaldo of
Genoa. The design was realistic and already mass production-oriented, with minimal modifications to the standard body and a weight increase of only 150 kg (110 for the batteries, 20 for the electric engine and 10 for power electronics). The Alfa Romeo 33 Ibrida was able to travel up to 60 km/h in full electric mode, with a 5 km range, very good performance for the time. In 1989,
Audi produced its first
iteration of the Audi Duo (the
Audi C3 100 Avant Duo) experimental vehicle, a
plug-in parallel hybrid based on the
Audi 100 Avant
quattro. This car had a
Siemens electric motor which drove the rear roadwheels. A
trunk-mounted
nickel–cadmium battery supplied
energy to the motor that drove the rear wheels. The vehicle's front road wheels were powered by a
2.3-litre five-cylinder petrol engine with an output of . The intent was to produce a vehicle which could operate on the engine in the country, and electric mode in the city. Mode of operation could be selected by the driver. Just ten vehicles are believed to have been made; one
drawback was that due to the extra weight of the electric drive, the vehicles were less efficient when running on their engines alone than standard Audi 100s with the same engine. Two years later, Audi, unveiled the second duo generation, the
Audi 100 Duo – likewise based on the Audi 100 Avant quattro. Once again, this featured an electric motor, a three-phase machine, driving the rear roadwheels. This time, however, the rear wheels were additionally powered via the
Torsen centre
differential from the main engine compartment, which housed a 2.0-litre
four-cylinder engine. Research and Development was advancing in the 1990s with projects such as the early
BMW 5 Series (E34) CVT hybrid-electric vehicle In 1992,
Volvo ECC was developed by
Volvo. The Volvo ECC was built on the
Volvo 850 platform. In contrast to most production hybrids, which use a petrol piston engine to provide additional acceleration and to recharge the battery storage, the Volvo ECC used a gas turbine engine to drive the generator for recharging. The
Clinton administration initiated the
Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program on 29 September 1993, that involved
Chrysler,
Ford,
General Motors,
USCAR, the
DoE, and other various governmental agencies to engineer the next efficient and clean vehicle. The
United States National Research Council (USNRC) cited
automakers' moves to produce HEVs as evidence that technologies developed under PNGV were being rapidly adopted on
production lines, as called for under Goal 2. Based on information received from automakers, NRC reviewers questioned whether the "Big Three" would be able to move from the concept phase to cost effective, pre-production
prototype vehicles by 2004, as set out in Goal 3. The program was replaced by the hydrogen-focused
FreedomCAR initiative by the
George W. Bush administration in 2001, an initiative to fund research too risky for the private sector to engage in, with the long-term goal of developing effectively carbon emission- and petroleum-free vehicles. 1998 saw the
Esparante GTR-Q9 became the first Petrol-Electric Hybrid to race at Le Mans, although the car failed to qualify for the main event. The car managed to finished second in class at Petit Le Mans the same year.
Modern hybrids was launched in the U.S. in March 2009. The
first-generation Prius sedan has an estimated
fuel economy of in the city and in highway driving. The two-door
first-generation Insight was estimated at in city driving and on the highway. Toyota launched a second-generation Prius in 2004 and a third in 2009. The 2010 Prius has an estimated
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency combined fuel economy cycle of . The
Audi Duo III was introduced in 1997, based on the
Audi B5 A4 Avant, and was the only Duo to ever make it into series production. The
Honda Civic Hybrid was introduced in February 2002 as a 2003 model, based on the
seventh-generation Civic. The 2003 Civic Hybrid appears identical to the non-hybrid version, but delivers , a 40 percent increase compared to a conventional Civic LX sedan. The
Ford Escape Hybrid, the first hybrid electric
sport utility vehicle (SUV), was released in 2005. Toyota and Ford entered into a licensing agreement in March 2004 allowing Ford to use 20 patents from Toyota related to hybrid technology, although Ford's engine was independently designed and built. In exchange for the hybrid licenses, Ford licensed patents involving their European diesel engines to Toyota. Toyota announced calendar year 2005 hybrid electric versions of the
Toyota Highlander Hybrid and
Lexus RX 400h with 4WD-i, which uses a rear electric motor to power the rear wheels, negating the need for a transfer case. In 2006, General Motors Saturn Division began to market a
mild parallel hybrid, the 2007
Saturn Vue Green Line, which utilized GM's Belted
Alternator/Starter (
BAS Hybrid) system combined with a 2.4-litre L4 engine and an FWD automatic transmission. The same hybrid powertrain was also used to power the 2008
Saturn Aura Green Line and
Malibu Hybrid models. , only the BAS-equipped Malibu is still in (limited) production. In 2007,
Lexus released a hybrid electric version of their GS sport sedan, the
GS 450h, with a power output of 335 bhp. The 2007
Camry Hybrid became available in summer 2006 in the United States and Canada.
Nissan launched the
Altima Hybrid with technology licensed by Toyota in 2007. Commencing in fall 2007,
General Motors began to market their 2008
Two-Mode Hybrid models of their
GMT900-based
Chevrolet Tahoe and
GMC Yukon SUVs, closely followed by the 2009
Cadillac Escalade Hybrid version. For the 2009 model year, General Motors released the same technology in their half-ton pickup truck models, the 2009
Chevrolet Silverado and
GMC Sierra Two-Mode Hybrid models. The
Ford Fusion Hybrid officially debuted at the
Greater Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2008, and was launched to the U.S. market in March 2009, together with the second-generation
Honda Insight and the
Mercury Milan Hybrid.
Latest developments hybrid was launched in Japan in February 2010, followed by the US in August 2010. The Elantra LPI Hybrid delivers a
fuel economy rating of and CO2 emissions of 99 g/km to qualify as a
Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV). and sales began in the U.S. in October 2009. The S400 BlueHybrid is a
mild hybrid and the first hybrid car to adopt a
lithium-ion battery. The hybrid technology in the S400 was co-developed by
Daimler AG and
BMW. In December 2009 BMW began sales of its full hybrid
BMW ActiveHybrid X6, while Daimler launched the
Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid by lease only. is the first
mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle built in Europe. Honda also launched the 2011
Honda Fit Hybrid in Japan in October 2010, and unveiled the European version, the Honda Jazz Hybrid, at the
2010 Paris Motor Show, which went on sale in some European markets by early 2011.
Mass production of the 2011
Toyota Auris Hybrid began in May 2010 at Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK)
Burnaston plant and became the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle to be built in Europe. Sales in the UK began in July 2010, at a price starting at (), () less than the
Toyota Prius. The 2011 Auris Hybrid shares the same
powertrain as the Prius, and combined fuel economy is . The 2011
Lincoln MKZ Hybrid was unveiled at the 2010
New York International Auto Show and sales began in the U.S. in September 2010. The MKZ Hybrid is the first hybrid version ever to have the same price as the petrol-engine version of the same car. The
Porsche Cayenne Hybrid was launched in the U.S. in late 2010. ;2011–2015
Volkswagen announced at the
2010 Geneva Motor Show the launch of the 2012
Touareg Hybrid, which went on sale on the U.S. in 2011. VW also announced plans to introduce
diesel-electric hybrid versions of its most popular models in 2012, beginning with the new
Jetta, followed by the
Golf Hybrid in 2013 together with hybrid versions of the
Passat. Other petrol-electric hybrids released in the U.S. in 2011 were the
Lexus CT 200h, the
Infiniti M35 Hybrid, the
Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and its sibling the
Kia Optima Hybrid. The
Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 was launched in the European market in 2012, becoming the world's first
production diesel-electric hybrid. According to
Peugeot the new hybrid delivers a
fuel economy of up to and CO2 emissions of 99g/km on the European test cycle. was released in the U.S. in March 2012, and was launched in Japan as Toyota Aqua in December 2011. The
Toyota Prius v, launched in the U.S. in October 2011, is the first spinoff from the
Prius family. Sales in Japan began in May 2011 as the Prius Alpha. The European version, named Prius +, was launched in June 2012. The Prius Aqua was launched in Japan in December 2011, and was released as the
Toyota Prius c in the U.S. in March 2012. The Prius c was launched in Australia in April 2012. The production version of the 2012
Toyota Yaris Hybrid went on sale in Europe in June 2012. Other hybrids released in the U.S. during 2012 are the
Audi Q5 Hybrid,
BMW 5 Series ActiveHybrid,
BMW 3 series Hybrid,
Ford C-Max Hybrid,
Acura ILX Hybrid. Also during 2012 were released the next generation of
Toyota Camry Hybrid and the
Ford Fusion Hybrid, both of which offer significantly improved fuel economy in comparison with their previous generations. The 2013 models of the
Toyota Avalon Hybrid and the
Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid were released in the U.S. in December 2012. Toyota released the hybrid versions of the
Corolla Axio sedan and
Corolla Fielder station wagon in Japan in August 2013. Both cars are equipped with a 1.5-litre hybrid system similar to the one used in the Prius c. was released in Japan in December 2015. Sales of the
Honda Vezel Hybrid SUV began in Japan in December 2013. The
Range Rover Hybrid diesel-powered electric hybrid was unveiled at the 2013
Frankfurt Motor Show, and retail deliveries in Europe are slated to start in early 2014.
Ford Motor Company, the world's second largest manufacturer of hybrids after
Toyota Motor Corporation, reached the milestone of 400,000 hybrid electric vehicles produced in November 2014. After 18 years since the introduction of hybrid cars, Japan became in 2014 the first country to reach sales of over 1 million hybrid cars in a single year, and also the Japanese market surpassed the United States as the world's largest hybrid market. The redesigned and more efficient
fourth generation Prius was released for retail customers in Japan in December 2015. The 2016
model year Prius Eco surpassed the 2000
first generation Honda Insight as the all-time
EPA-rated most fuel efficient petrol-powered car available in the U.S. without
plug-in capability. In late 2017 Chevy introduced the Chevy ZH2 that runs on hydrogen fuel cells. The ZH2 was built especially for the U.S. ==Sales and rankings==