Hybrid Electric Vehicle

A more recent working prototype of the HEV was built by Victor Wouk (one of the scientists involved with the Henney Kilowatt, the first transistor-based electric car). Wouk’s work with HEVs in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the title as the “Godfather of the Hybrid”. Wouk installed a prototype hybrid drivetrain (with a 16 kW electric motor) into a 1972 Buick Skylark provided by GM for the 1970 Federal Clean Car Incentive Program, but the program was stopped by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1976 while Eric Stork, the head of the EPA at the time, was accused of a prejudicial coverup.

The regenerative braking system, the core design concept of most production HEVs, was developed by electrical engineer David Arthurs around 1978 using off-the shelf components and an Opel GT. However the voltage controller to link the batteries, motor (a jet-engine starter motor), and DC generator was Arthurs’. The vehicle exhibited 75 miles per US gallon (3.1 L/100 km; 90 mpg-imp) fuel efficiency and plans for it (as well as somewhat updated versions) are still available through the Mother Earth News web site. The Mother Earth News’ own 1980 version claimed nearly 84 miles per US gallon (2.8 L/100 km; 101 mpg-imp).

In 1989, Audi produced its first iteration of the Audi Duo (or Audi 100 Avant duo) experimental vehicle, a plug-in parallel hybrid based on the Audi 100 Avant quattro. This car had a 12.6 bhp Siemens electric motor which drove the rear wheels. A trunk-mounted nickel-cadmium battery supplied energy to the motor that drove the rear wheels. The vehicle’s front wheels were powered by a 2.3-litre five-cylinder engine with an output of 136 bhp (101 kW). The intent was to produce a vehicle which could operate on the engine in the country and electric mode in the city. Mode of operation could be selected by the driver. Just ten vehicles are believed to have been made; one drawback was that due to the extra weight of the electric drive, the vehicles were less efficient when running on their engines alone than standard Audi 100s with the same engine.