The Back End: July 2008

SHIFTING GEARS On the move with ...

Hybrids

Gas-electric hybrid engines (like the 2001 Honda Insight’s, above) were developed more than 100 years ago, but have always been expensive to produce. Still, hybrids have finally come into their own, with sales looking to top 375,000 this year, up from 20,000 in 2001.
—Atilla Akgun

1900: Ferdinand Porsche develops first gas-electric hybrid vehicle.

1903: A hybrid gets world’s first speeding ticket, boasts Electric Auto Association.

1917: Woods Motor Vehicle Co. intros the Dual Power, combining electric with internal combustion.

1942: “Godfather of the Hybrid” Victor Wouk earns Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Caltech and 30 years later builds Buick Skylark hybrid.

1969: GM develops GM 883, an experimental hybrid chargeable on a 115-volt source.

1976: President Ford vetoes Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1976, citing immature battery technology.

1999: Honda Insight arrives here. Toyota Prius comes a year later.

2004: Ford Escape hybrid debuts.

2006: Honda pulls the plug on Insight.

2009: New five-door, five-seat Honda hybrid to roll out.

2010: More than three dozen hybrid models expected.