History of Hybrid Cars

 Introduction to the hybrid vehicle

 Hybrid vehicles have a rich and illustrious history that is all their own.  There are many different types of vehicles created over many different brands that go back decades in terms of the history that is behind them.  Since most of us first heard about hybrids like the Toyota Prius that do not have a history that goes back nearly that long, this might come as a bit of a surprise.  However, a large amount of that surprise should be alleviated once we start by giving the true definition for what a hybrid vehicle actually is.

 Defining the hybrid concept

 Although all Toyota Prius hybrid products are indeed hybrid vehicles, the reverse is not the case.  It is possible for something to be designed in a way that is completely different from the Prius yet still qualify as a hybrid and that is because of the definition of hybrid vehicles that is in use today.

 This definition calls any vehicle a hybrid as long as it uses two distinct forms of power in order to provide locomotion to the vehicle.  This means that any vehicle that powers your forward movement in at least two different ways could be called a hybrid vehicle.  Although hybrid electric vehicles like the Toyota Prius are the most common types of hybrids that are built today, you can definitely take a look around and see many non-electric hybrid vehicles in use today.

 Hybrid types

 As previously mentioned, the most common type of hybrid vehicle is the hybrid electric vehicle.  This vehicle will be the bulk of the rest of the article since it is the one that is most relevant to the current situation, but no article would be complete without discussing some of the other common types of hybrids that have been put onto the market.

 The most common type of hybrid after the hybrid electric vehicle would have to be the hybrid fuel vehicle.  This type of vehicle uses two distinct types of fuel in order to power the engine that it has inside.  Usually, this is gasoline and one other type of fuel, but you can tell the hybrid split based on the name that is given to the category. 

 When you see a term like hybrid electric vehicle used, you can infer that the hybrid structure going on is gasoline-electric because the other half after electricity is not specified.  Gasoline is always assumed to be part of the mix unless otherwise specified as in the case of some of the newer electric-hydrogen vehicles that have been attempted.

 Within the context of hybrid fuel vehicles (also sometimes referred to as “flex fuel” vehicles within the popular discourse), the most common one that is currently in use in North America would have to be the hybrid ethanol vehicle.  This vehicle uses a combination of conventional gasoline derived from petroleum and E85 ethanol derived from corn to allow the engine to move the car forward.  Refuelling requires less gasoline as a result and since the express purpose of E85 hybrids is to facilitate the reduction of gasoline consumption, this car is a very nice solution to what is currently a worldwide energy crisis.

 That being said, the ethanol used in these cars in North America is not the most efficient type of ethanol that you can find on the market.  Truthfully, the energy required to create corn ethanol removes almost all of the gain that you’d get from it, making corn ethanol a highly inefficient means of locomotion.  However, ethanol can also be derived from sugar cane and other like crops in a way that allows you to gain a lot of energy from the reaction.  This sugar ethanol can then be combined with gasoline in flex fuel technology to create the same automobiles that just happen to run in a far more efficient manner.  Countries like Brazil that are able to grow large amounts of sugar cane have been able to parlay this advantage into energy independence, greatly increasing their worldwide political influence as a result.

 Another type of fuel hybrid that you should know about is the natural gas hybrid vehicle.  There are many automobiles out there that can run on a combination of gasoline and natural gas or even entirely on natural gas, greatly reducing the amount of gasoline intake that is required.  In addition to electrification, many public transit organizations such as the one in Toronto, Canada, have busses that run solely on natural gas or a hybrid of gasoline and natural gas.  This allows them to save millions of dollars each year on their gasoline expenses.

 Finally, one more fuel hybrid worth mentioning is the bio-fuel hybrid.  This category has almost ceased to exist as automobile technology has allowed these vehicles to move from hybrid bio-fuel vehicles to fully bio-fuel vehicles.  In fact, that same public transit organization is almost entirely powered by bio-fuel and other fuel hybrid busses to the point where there are very few busses within their fleet that run only on gasoline.  Many other public transit agencies have taken that same cue and gone in that direction as well.  If all goes well, we can assume that bio-fuels and other flex fuel vehicles will dominate the private and public bus fleets of the world within the next few years.

 Be that as it may, the real hybrid vehicle that everyone wants to know about is the hybrid electric vehicle.  With that in mind, let us begin the rest of our discussion by taking a close look at how the hybrid electric vehicle measures up with the completely electric vehicle.  There are many similarities, but many differences as well.