Hybrid Car 100+ Years Old Was Similar to Chevy Volt

October 24th, 2012 by Jake Richardson

Think hybrid vehicles like the Prius and Volt are new? Well, they are new to us, but the Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid was created in 1901, making it over 110 years old. At the time, it probably was called a ‘horseless carriage’ and weighed about 3,300 pounds.

The Lohner-Porsche Hybrid used a power configuration similar to today’s Chevy Volt, in that it employed a generator which ran on gasoline to create electricity. The small internal combustion engine used as a generator was made by Daimler. Electric motors near the wheel hubs were powered by this electricity. The vehicle’s top speed was about 37 mph.

For a turn-of-the-century vehicle, this was moving swiftly, if you consider 37.5 mph was about the average speed when Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes. Safety features on horseless carriages in 1901 couldn’t have been that extensive, and city streets would have been crowded with horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians, so it might have been dangerous to go that fast. Today’s version of this ground-breaking hybrid might be the Porsche Cayenne S. It costs almost $70,000, supposedly gets 24 mpg, and has a top speed of 150 mph.

Austrian Dr. Ferdinand Porsche was the designer and builder of the Mixte and he was only about 24 at the time. He drove one of his hybrids in the Exelberg Rally of 1901 and finished in first place. In the early 1930s, he went on to found Volkswagen and Porsche motor companies. At one point, he was contracted by Hitler to make vehicles and even tanks for the Nazis.

Of course, today, Porsche is an iconic car brand known for making some of the fastest and most attractive vehicles in the world.

For a similar story, check out “Disabled Millionaire Spearheaded Hybrid Car To Pursue Driving Pleasure.”

Image Credit: Public Domain

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Tags: hybrid electric cars, oldest hybrid car, oldest hybrid electric car, oldest hybrid electric vehicle, Porsche, porsche hybrid electric cars, porsche hybrid electric vehicles

About the Author

Jake Richardson Hello, I have been writing online for some time, and enjoy the outdoors. If you like, you can follow me on Google Plus.

http://www.facebook.com/mark.brooks.12764 Mark Brooks

Not bad for 110 years old, but since it lacks battery’s it would not qualify for the ev tax credit… Sorry!
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
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MooneyDriver

It’s clearly not a hybrid since it has only one source of power, a gasoline engine with an innovative electric transmission. As I see it, you’d need batteries to qualify for today’s definitiion of hybrid.
Check the dictionary:
Powered by more than one source of power