How Hybrid Cars Evolved

In this special episode of DNews that was made possible by Toyota, Trace explores the history of the hybrid cars, and explains what makes them so special.

Read More:
The First Gas/Electric Hybrid Vehicle Was Invented In 1900
“While hybrid and electric cars are often touted by the media and automobile companies as the wave of the future, in fact, we’re more just re-hashing the wave of the past with them, but with updated technologies.”

Timeline: History of the Electric Car

When Old Things Turn Into New Again
“WHILE combining gasoline and electric motors in a car seems like a miracle of automotive wizardry of the 21st century, the origins of hybrid technology actually date to the end of the 19th.”

What is the history of hybrid cars?
“Generally speaking, a hybrid car is any car that uses more than one fuel source.”

Electric Cars and History
“Since the invention of the first electric motor strong enough to do work in 1834 people have been dreaming of electric powered transportation.”

The Science Behind Hybrid Vehicles
“With the creation of the automobile, we have been able to go from vehicles that rely on steam power (Cugnot Steam Trolley, 1769), to ones that run on gasoline (like the ones commonly used today), and are now moving towards hybrid vehicles.”

Experian Automotive: Total number of vehicles on the road reaches highest level since 2008
“Experian Automotive today announced that the number of cars and light trucks on the road reached 247.9 million in Q2 2013.”

Hybrid Electric Vehicles: A History of Technological Innovation
“Recently there has been much excitement regarding the release of the first hybrid electric vehicles into the American consumer market.”

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[TimJoseph]

EVs, PHEVs, and Hybrids are great for heavy stop and go driving, where a regular gasoline engine would waste fuel, while stopping at a red light. Nowadays some newer cars come with auto start/stop system with a switch to activate or deactivate the system to shut the engine off at red lights and restart after releasing the brake pedal. These systems are great for areas with higher gas prices, such as California and New York.

[darryl.llanura]

Hey Trace, can you do an episode regarding building a space habitat and an underwater city. I want the facts and figures about this ones and how feasible are these possibly to do.

[Mitch_Rogoff]

Once I saw a deer get hit by a Prius
It got up laughed and walked away

[hectorramirez]

I clicked on this video thinking

"Gee I wonder who's sponsoring this episode, most likely a car company."

lmao.

[SilentStrikerTH]

The thing you have to understand is, yes, using electricity is a lot less pollutive. However I could also say, yes, creating electricity is just as pollutive. People don't realize that in order to make electricity you in fact use coal or other things like it that produce the pollution. So it just makes it so that the pollution is made in a factory and not in the car itself...

[tangyboy]

Charging points on the side of streetlights! Make it happen.

[ShadowDrakken]

We get it, you're sponsored by Toyota. Doesn't mean you need to make an entire episode that's just an advertisement for them.

[qqq]

I have a Prius C for a company car. I think it's cool that it gets close to the same amount of miles between fill ups as my personal car, about 350, but it only takes 9 gallons as opposed to 16 for my car.

[tessat]

When my brother came back from serving in Kuwait and Iraq, he bought a hybrid.  He feels that energy security is in his own best interest.  I would have loved to have gotten one but we just didn't have that kind of money when we bought our last new car. 

[GaryGSF]

I bought a hybrid Lexus.  Not for the environment sake, but the the smooth power delivery.  The higher mpg and lower emissions are just a bonus.

[Ragnarokflare]

Ferdinand Porsche... Wait... You mean the same Ferdinand Porsche who competed for the design of the German heavy tank, the Tiger, and the creator of the Ferdinand tank destroyer? /:P... Well I hope.

[Disthron]

So I've been hearing about Hybrids that only use the gas engine to generate electricity for the electric engines. So that the gas engine can be really small since it doesn't have to move the car. I'm wondering if that's more efficient still or if it's about the same and is just a different system.

[cmdtuts]

Today I learnt, after Faraday wrote the guide, it was a blacksmith who then invented magic.

[Javo]

The Ferdinand Porsche design of the Tiger Tank was a hybrid but the prototype was rejected in the end

[Daffy]

I'm very ignorant on the subject, but *is it possible for a car to generate it's own electricity when in motion?* (like use the rotation of the tires to make enough electricity to keep the car's engine going, or use the same engine to generate a little extra electricity for its own use?)

[Heatstreak]

You guys should have mentioned the Mclaren P1! It's a hybrid beast!

[rubikfan]

i might consider a hybride, when they make it manual.

[GTRdeamon]

If you ask me if i would drive and own a hybrid car, i would answer that depends of what car we talking about. Prius = hell no Golf GTE = Yes BMW I8 = yes please.

[Ryan_]

Whats the song playing during this vid? seems relaxing

[CurtisPerrin]

I don't think you got that quite right. The gasoline engine takes over because in order to keep driving on electric you need larger batteries. The energy density of gasoline is greater so that makes it more efficient. Its really a matter of torque. Electric motors are good at accelerating the vehicle because they produce tons of torque at 0 rpm. Whereas a gasoline engine stalls at 0 rpm so you have to have a clutch or torque converter such that the engine can run at a higher rpm as you start moving. Basically things are slipping as you accelerate which creates heat and therefore is a loss of energy. That coupled with engine efficiency varying greatly with rpm makes them not great for accelerating. Extended range electric cars I think are great. You have a small generator running at its most efficient speed charging batteries which power the electric motors which have efficiencies that don't vary as much with speed.