A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids.
The tzero is a handmade electric sports car designed and built in very limited numbers by the U.S. company AC Propulsion in the early 2000s. It was the direct predecessor of the Tesla line of electric cars. The tzero was based on the Piontek Sportech kit car, which consists of a fiberglass body built over a reinforced steel space frame with double wishbone independent suspension and rack and pinion steering. AC Propulsion added the AC-150 drivetrain, a single-speed electric system with an overall gear ratio of 9:1.
The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by General Motors from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the outset.
Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) is an American manufacturer in the low-speed vehicle category, producing neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) since 1998 and low-speed vehicles (LSVs) since 2001. It has sold more than 50,000 GEM battery-electric vehicles worldwide as of October 2015. GEM was formerly owned by Chrysler. It was purchased by Polaris Inc. in 2011, and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Waev in January 2022.
Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), also known as Toyota Hybrid System II, is the brand name of Toyota Motor Corporation for the hybrid car drive train technology used in vehicles with the Toyota and Lexus marques. First introduced on the Prius, the technology is an option on several other Toyota and Lexus vehicles and has been adapted for the electric drive system of the hydrogen-powered Mirai, and for a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius. Previously, Toyota also licensed its HSD technology to Nissan for use in its Nissan Altima Hybrid. Its parts supplier Aisin Seiki Co. offers similar hybrid transmissions to other car companies.
The CitiCar is an electric car produced from 1974 to 1977 by Sebring, Florida–based Sebring-Vanguard, Inc. After being bought out by Commuter Vehicles, Inc, Sebring-Vanguard produced the similar Comuta-Car and Comuta-Van from 1979 to 1982. Similarities to its exterior design can be spotted in the Danish Kewet and the later Norwegian Buddy electric car. Accounting for all CitiCar variants, a total of 4,444 units were produced up to 1979, the most since 1945 for an electric car assembled in North America until surpassed in 2011 by the Chevrolet Volt.
The Chevrolet S-10 Electric was an American electric-powered vehicle built by Chevrolet. It was introduced in 1997, becoming the world's first electric pickup truck, updated in 1998, and then discontinued. It was an OEM BEV variant of Chevrolet's S-10 pickup truck. The S-10 Electric was solely powered by electricity (batteries) and was marketed primarily to utility fleet customers.
A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an attached motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized bicycle is in technical terms a true bicycle, albeit a power-assisted one. Typically they are incapable of speeds above 52 km/h (32 mph).
The fuel economy of an automobile relates distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel consumed. Consumption can be expressed in terms of volume of fuel to travel a distance, or the distance traveled per unit volume of fuel consumed. Since fuel consumption of vehicles is a significant factor in air pollution, and since importation of motor fuel can be a large part of a nation's foreign trade, many countries impose requirements for fuel economy. Different methods are used to approximate the actual performance of the vehicle. The energy in fuel is required to overcome various losses encountered while propelling the vehicle, and in providing power to vehicle systems such as ignition or air conditioning. Various strategies can be employed to reduce losses at each of the conversions between the chemical energy in the fuel and the kinetic energy of the vehicle. Driver behavior can affect fuel economy; maneuvers such as sudden acceleration and heavy braking waste energy.
The ZAP Xebra was an electric car launched in May 2006 in the United States market by ZAP corporation. It is classified legally as a three-wheel motorcycle in some jurisdictions, and is available in both sedan and pickup truck variants. It has seat belts. It does not have regenerative braking. The PK pickup has a dump bed, with fold-down sides and tailgate, that allows easy access to the batteries, controller, motor, and charger.
The Wrightspeed X1 is a one-off Ariel Atom heavily modified to use an all-electric powertrain. The Atom was chosen for its light weight and efficient design. The electric motor and inverter are sourced from AC Propulsion, makers of the TZero concept car, while the batteries are low weight, high energy density lithium ion provided from A123 Systems. As with the Atom the transmission is a Honda unit, but stripped of its shifting mechanism and other parts to provide only the second gear speed, allowed by the wide speed and torque range available from the electric motor.
The Ford TH!NK was a line of electric vehicles produced by the TH!NK Mobility, then an enterprise of the Ford Motor Company. The short-lived line included four models: the TH!NK Neighbor and the TH!NK City, small electric automobiles, and the TH!NK Bike Traveler and the TH!NK Bike Fun, electric-powered motorized bicycle. Ford sold its stock, and the resulting company, Think Global, produced electric cars in Norway until declaring bankruptcy in 2011.
The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) sports car, based on the Lotus Elise chassis, that was produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors in California from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway legal serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production all-electric car to travel more than 320 kilometres (200 mi) per charge. It is also the first production car to be launched into deep space, carried by a Falcon Heavy rocket in a test flight on February 6, 2018.
The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid manufactured by General Motors, also marketed in rebadged variants as the Holden Volt in Australia and New Zealand and the Buick Velite 5 in China, and with a different fascia as the Vauxhall Ampera in the United Kingdom and as the Opel Ampera in the remainder of Europe. Volt production ended in February 2019.
Audi hybrid vehicles are hybrid electric vehicles created by the German carmaker, Audi. Some vehicles listed were concept vehicles, which utilised an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, and were used for research and development (R&D) for potential future use of the technology into possible series production. Audi launched its first hybrid concept car in 1989 called the Audi Duo, and was the first European company to sell a hybrid in 1997, though only in very small numbers.
The Electrosport was a compact-sized electric vehicle based on the AMC Hornet that were converted by the Electric Fuel Propulsion Company (EFP) of Ferndale, Michigan.
Electric vehicle warning sounds are sounds designed to alert pedestrians to the presence of electric drive vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) travelling at low speeds. Warning sound devices were deemed necessary by some government regulators because vehicles operating in all-electric mode produce less noise than traditional combustion engine vehicles and can make it more difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to be aware of their presence. Warning sounds may be driver triggered or automatic at low speeds; in type, they vary from clearly artificial to those that mimic engine sounds and those of tires moving over gravel.
The Coda is a four-door, four passenger electric car once manufactured by Coda Automotive. After being rescheduled several times, deliveries to retail customers in the United States began in March 2012. The car was sold exclusively in California and only 117 units were delivered by April 2013.
Wheego Technologies is an American company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Wheego develops emerging vehicle technologies including: software, systems and tools for self-driving cars or autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and IoT connected devices for the home, business and roadway. The company is led by CEO Mike McQuary.
Graiseley Electric Vehicles were produced by the British company Diamond Motors Ltd of Wolverhampton. They had previously made motor cycles, but began producing battery-electric road vehicles (BERV) in the mid 1930s. They were best known for their three-wheeled pedestrian controlled vehicles, although they also produced conventional four-wheeled milk floats, and later manufactured industrial trucks. The company went into liquidation in the early 1960s, although the marque was used by two other companies until at least 1972.
