The original hybrid automobile?

[3for3]

I was at a company in Temecula,CA. today called Infineon (used to be International Rectifier Co. up until a few weeks ago). They have this interesting solar powered car on display in their lobby area.

I could not get much information on it because it's Saturday and no employees around, only the security officers that are posted 24/7. All they know is that this car is allegedly still operable from what employees of the company told them.

There is no steering wheel though, so I am not sure how it operates, or what it's all about.

 

[Samuraidog]

Very cool.

 

[mk378]

I think that pushing and pulling on that big lever inside steers the car. It is a simpler mechanism to build than a wheel and steering gear.

 

[Kira]

It's so sad that in a country as big as ours various methods of propulsion were abandoned in favor of internal combustion engines.

Don't get me wrong, I love engines as much as the next person but there had to have been millions of people who would've been well served by vehicles with limited range.

A girlfriend used a car to commute 1 mile to the local school all her working life. She could've used a vehicle with electric golf cart technology.

 

[Ducked]

Seems to be an electric car. Nothing "hybrid" about it AFAICT.

 

[Andrew1972]

porsche built the first hybrid in 1900ish. The car in photos is more akin to a tesla.

 

[Kiwi_ME]

Hmm ...

0.115 kw / (3 hp x 0.746 kw/hp) = 5% supplement to the battery

Barely worth carrying around the weight of the solar panel.

I think the IR marketing department designed this.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Kiwi_ME
Hmm ...

0.115 kw / (3 hp x 0.746 kw/hp) = 5% supplement to the battery

Barely worth carrying around the weight of the solar panel.

I think the IR marketing department designed this.


thought much the same 115W, say 8 useful hours of charging gets you 1 KWHh in the day....better not need those headlights.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
porsche built the first hybrid in 1900ish. The car in photos is more akin to a tesla.
Porsche built a car in 1900? THe company was founded in 1931.

 

[ls973800]

There is a similar model without the added solar panels on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum in Auburn, Indiana. It is on display in the basement with other "odd" cars, and was a plug in model.

Well worth the visit if you are ever in the area.

 

[Charlie1935]

Most very early cars Didn't have steering wheels.
They were "tiller steered" which is that bar shown inside the left door in the photo saying it is a Baker Electric car.
I rode in a 1913 Detroit Electric that had the same set up.

 

[Astro14]

There were a lot of electric cars circa 1910.

They had very short range, but cars were a luxury, not used for commuting,mane certainly not driven long distance. One took the train to go anywhere far.

Back then, a gasoline engine was a dangerous beast. Electric start hadn't been invented. Hand cranks would break your arm if the engine backfired.

Electric was clean, safe, reliable and the very limited range didn't matter.

Gasoline engines evolved far faster than battery technology. By 1925, the electric was dead.

 

[javacontour]

So in 1958 they added a big solar cell to a 1912 car is what we have here, if I understand correctly.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
So in 1958 they added a big solar cell to a 1912 car is what we have here, if I understand correctly.


Yep...