When: 1997
Where: Japan
Why: The hybrid car has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of the automobile industry
How: Toyota developed Victor Wouk’s hybrid power unit to launch the first commercial hybrid car
Who: Victor Wouk and Toyota
Fact: Hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius produce 90% fewer pollutants than comparable non-hybrid cars
Strictly speaking, the first hybrid vehicle may have been the Lohner-Porsche Elektromobil, which was shown at the Paris Exposition of 1900. Although it started purely as an electric vehicle, Ferdinand Porsche added an internal combustion engine to recharge the batteries, making it a true hybrid, by definition. The first half of the 20th century was dotted with attempts to combine technologies so as to achieve more efficient propulsion, but none got beyond the prototype stage and, more importantly, none went into production.
But if any one individual can be credited with the invention of a hybrid power unit, it should be Victor Wouk, the brother of the author of The Caine Mutiny and many other best sellers, Herman Wouk. For although his invention never went to market either, it was conceived with mass production in mind and developed for a commercial programme.
Toyota developed its technology independently and claimed – justly – to be the first to launch a commercial hybrid car, in 1997, by which time battery design and engine management software had reached the required level of dependability. Earlier attempts to produce a production hybrid, like the 1989 Audi Duo series, were based on separate electric and internal combustion drivetrains, so Toyota’s claim to be the first to develop a production hybrid is unassailable.
Victor Wouk was an electrical engineer and entrepreneur who, during the 1960s, devoted himself to combining the low-emissions benefits of an electric car with the power of a petrol engine to produce a hybrid vehicle. When he learned about the Federal Clean Car Incentive Program, run by the UC Environmental Protection Agency, he submitted a design and won a $30,000 grant to develop a prototype.
The car he selected as the vehicle for his power unit was a Buick Skylark, which he fitted with a 20-kilowatt direct-current electric motor and a Mazda RX-2 rotary engine. This vehicle was tested at the EPA’s emissions-testing laboratories in Ann Arbor, where it returned a fuel efficiency reading twice as good as that of the unconverted car. Its emission rates were about a tenth of those of an average petrol powered car. Nevertheless, the project was dropped when it was realised that petrol was so cheap in the USA that a hybrid car had no market advantage, despite its environmental benefits.
Although the US government introduced further clean vehicle initiatives, notably the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) in 1993, it was left to Japanese manufacturers to develop and launch a production hybrid. In fact PNGV can be said to have handed the prize to Toyota, because it excluded foreign manufacturers.
The launch of the Prius in 1997 … ahead of the Kyoto summit on global warming, can be said to mark the birth of the commercially viable hybrid car.
In the same year, and piqued by the US government’s protectionist stance, Toyota pitched its research efforts into its secret G21 project. This accelerated product-development drive led to the Toyota Hybrid System (THS), which combined an internal combustion engine fuelled by petrol with an electric motor. The company’s first hybrid ‘concept’ car was unveiled at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show.
The launch of the Prius in 1997, two years ahead of schedule and ahead of the Kyoto summit on global warming, can be said to mark the birth of the commercially viable hybrid car, since Toyota sold 18,000 in Japan alone that year.
At the time that the Prius emerged it was not clear whether hybrid technology would prevail over all-electric vehicles, and research funding was divided between these two mechanisms. However, the launch of the Prius tipped the scales and the first batch of electric vehicles, such as the Honda EV Plus, the Chevrolet S-10 electric pickup and Toyota’s own RAV4 EV, were all eventually withdrawn.
In the year 2000, the Prius was introduced to the US and British automobile markets, and by 2002 more than 100,000 units had been sold. With a starting price of $22,000, this niche model proved a significant success for Toyota and soon a number of Hollywood names were seeking to boost their green credentials by getting behind the (hybrid) steering wheel, providing it with further positive publicity.
The launch of the Prius in fact had a stimulating effect on the entire hybrid automobile market. Research into electric and electric-hybrid vehicles continued and the development of batteries, in particular lithium-ion batteries, made hybrids more efficient. As well as this, the Prius levelled the playing field between hybrid and all-electric vehicles, so it is now an open question, just as in the 1970s, as to which of the mechanisms will prevail. Nonetheless, the Prius has a strong body of supporters, with more than 2.2 million vehicles sold globally by May 2011.
It was not long before Toyota’s hybrid had a rival on its tail, in the form of Honda’s Insight vehicle, in 1999. These Japanese manufacturers have held sway internationally ever since, despite the efforts of Ford (who produced the first hybrid SUV, the Escape Hybrid, in 2004), Audi and GM.
Worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles have been growing fast in recent years and Toyota remains the market leader – but more manufacturers are entering the race. At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show Volkswagen announced the launch of the 2012 Touareg Hybrid, as well as plans to introduce diesel-electric hybrid versions of its most popular models in the same year. However, the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4, due to be launched in the second half of 2011, is expected to become the world’s first production diesel-electric hybrid. Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and BMW all have plans to launch hybrids before the end of 2011.
These projects appear to reinforce that hybrid cars occupy a secure market niche today, principally among people who want an environmentally friendly vehicle. It should be noted, though, that they still only account for just over 1% of global car sales, and fears remain that improvements in batteries, motors and, above all, the infrastructure for recharging electric cars may erode – and eventually wipe out – the hybrid electric market. Nonetheless, the legacy of hybrid cars, as a significant step forward in the progress towards environmentally friendly travel, will endure.
Hybrid cars occupy a secure market niche today, principally among people who want an environmentally friendly vehicle.