Porsche Cars founder introduced hybrid vehicle 100 yrs. ago.

[Selatius]

This one was an all-electric design, predecessor to the hybrid design followed a few years later. It won "Most Innovative Invention" at the great Paris World's Fair of 1900. Because of the attraction caused by the fair, 300 of these were sold.



And here is his hybrid invention with him at the wheel.



...

With an electric motor in each front wheel, the car had a top speed of about 31 miles per hour. Versions of this car won several races, often with Porsche himself at the wheel.

One racing version, created in 1900 and capable of a top speed of 37 miles per hour, had electric motors in all four wheels, allowing Porsche Cars to claim that its founder created the first all-wheel-drive vehicle.

...

What made Porsche's electric car so revolutionary was the manufacturing simplicity and energy efficiency engendered by placing the motors directly at the wheel hubs.

With no transmission or cables of any sort needed to carry energy from the motors to the wheels, 83 percent of the energy used by the car actually went to move the car. That compares to less than 40 percent for modern internal combustion engines.

...

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/autos/0711/gallery.porsche_first_hybrid/index.html

He went the next step by including a combustion engine onto his hybrid design to generate electricity for the electrical motors. Battery technology in his day was primitive and wore out quickly, offering limited range for the vehicle, so he decided to include the engine to boost range.

[Mabus]

1. Interesting

thanks for the information.

[rwenos]

2. Incredibly Obvious

Isn't it? The technical problems associated with electric cars were solved 70 years ago. The proof of this is that General Electric builds (and has for decades) hybrid electric diesel LOCOMOTIVES. You know -- the huge engines that drag trains around?

The really interesting question is why those bleeps in Detroit won't BUILD an electric car. Kinda makes ya wonder -- maybe they're in it together with Big Oil? (Duh)

[pansypoo53219]

3. roger rabbit showed

us how big rubber was in it with cars to destroy street cars ya know.

[kster]

4. Why do you hate America?

:sarcasm:

This kind of power transmission is used by locomotives , used for pulling or pushing trains. Diesel-electric powerplants have also been used in submarines and surface ships and some land vehicles. In some high-efficiency applications, electrical energy may be stored in rechargeable batteries, in which case these vehicles can be considered as a class of hybrid electric vehicle.



:thumbsup:

[Occulus]

5. Wow.

I had NO idea how long the concept of the electric car had been around.

It's such a complete no-brainer, I ought to have guessed.

It certainly gives a new answer to the question, "Who killed the electric car", doesn't it?