25 years of motoring electrification

On this day, 25 years ago, the first-generation Toyota Prius went on sale in Japan, signaling the genesis of the electrification of vehicles. Because the Toyota Prius is no doubt the most influential vehicle in the history of the automobile, let's take a quick civics lesson on the rise of electrification.

2023 Toyota Prius

The Genesis - It was late December 1997 when Toyota Motor Corporation introduced the world the Prius, the first-ever hybrid electric car on the road. Known as the more practical solution to automobile-produced pollution, a hybrid car like the Prius combines two or more power sources and the first Prius combines a 1 .5L 4-cylinder gasoline engine and an electric motor that generates more torque than the engine itself.

On normal driving, power from the gas engine is split through a special CVT gearbox. Some runs to the wheels and some are used to recharge the batteries. The generator usually runs the electric motor for additional power to the wheels while the batteries supplement the generator during hard acceleration. As it decelerates or brakes, the electric motor functions as a generator to recharge the batteries.

Thanks to the Prius, more and more vehicles have adopted the same hybrid powerplant as the Prius, even minivans like the Estima and SUVs like the Harrier and because of that, most car companies wanted to copy Toyota's hybrid powerplant to their new cars for the pursuit of reducing emissions to their vehicles. To date, over 20.30 million Toyota hybrids, including Lexus hybrids, have been sold globally.

The Electric Car - A year before the advent of the Toyota Prius, the United States of America is the first to introduce the world to an electric car known as the EV1 by General Motors. Available only for lease from 1996 to 1999, the first EV1 is powered by a three-phase AC induction motor and a 16.5-kWh Delphi lead-acid battery. Then, three years later, the last EV1 is powered by 18.7-kWh Panasonic lead-acid batteries and later upgraded with 26.4-kWh nickel-metal-hydride batteries. 

It was the first car to be sold under the General Motors emblem, sparking confusion among consumers, and in 2003, General Motors ended leases of their two-seater EV, sparking a chain of events that lead to the documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car. 

However, the electric car has been revived thanks to companies like Tesla and Nissan and since then, The Revenge of the Electric Car has come to fruition as almost all car companies are joining the electric car bandwagon.

The PHEV - Car companies wanted to combine the best of both worlds by combining the capabilities of a hybrid car and an electric car and the result is the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or PHEV. A PHEV allows owners to recharge the batteries using the car itself or at home via a charger like they do with an electric car. Simple as that. Toyota became the first to introduce the plug-in hybrid to the world with the Prius PHV in 2012.

The key difference is that the battery of a PHEV is smaller than a pure electric car and powers the wheels at slow speeds or for a limited range. With the battery range taken care of, the hybrid powertrain allows the car to keep going.

The Cheating EV - The advent of the Chevrolet Volt introduced a new kind of eco-car known as an extended-range electric vehicle. Much to the disdain of electric car purists, cars like the Volt feature a plug-in battery pack and electric motor as well as an internal combustion engine. It's different from a PHEV as the electric motor always drives the wheels, with the internal combustion engine serving as a generator to recharge the battery when it is depleted. The ideal thing about cars like Volt is that you can do two things; refuel with petrol and recharge the batteries, the best of both worlds.

It's not just the Volt that has this kind of clever powertrain but also BMW with their i3 when the top-spec comes with a small petrol engine that serves as a backup when the battery runs dry.

In late 2016, Nissan wanted to make hybrids behave like full EVs thanks to its e-POWER drivetrain. First introduced in the Note E12, e-POWER is a rather unique hybrid powertrain in which the wheels are completely powered by the electric motor, and the petrol engine simply charges the batteries. The way how electricity is made is what differs it from an electric vehicle or conventional hybrid and with e-Power, the petrol engine and the wheels are not connected similar to an electric car as the power is sourced from the petrol engine, allowing it to run without having to charge the battery from an external source. The Note E13, launched at the end of 2020, featured an evolution of the said powertrain.

Fuel Cell - Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles are by far the most unsung of the eco cars because there's little to be known about this powerplant. Unlike most hybrid powerplants, it uses hydrogen to produce electricity which then powers the wheels of the vehicle, and because hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world (because there's no gas lighter than that), the only tailpipe emission is water. And, no recharging is needed because it will keep generating power as long as it is fed with hydrogen.

Many car companies are studying the feasibility of hydrogen-powered cars but Toyota perfected it with the MIRAI in 2014.

How to make hybrids more engaging - Some drivers criticized the hybrids for not being as engaging as other cars and a handful of car companies responded their words by doing the impossible for hybrids; either putting powerful engines, engaging gearboxes that work better than the hybrid-derived CVT, or both. 

For example, Honda tried to make a hybrid car more engaging when it launched the first Insight in the year 2000. They were the first to put a manual gearbox in the hybrid and then in 2010, they've done it again with the CR-Z. Later, Honda experimented with adding double-clutch gearboxes on hybrids like the Fit, the Grace, and the Vezel, and the result is better fuel economy and a more engaging driving feel unless we bother about reports on Honda recalling such cars a couple of years ago. Still, it's pretty much impressive that the Koreans copied Honda's hybrid DCT sorcery to hybrid cars like the Hyundai iONIQ and Kia Niro.

Nissan, on the other hand, put a seven-speed AT on hybrid models like the Fuga and the Skyline and the result is a hybrid that balances performance and fuel efficiency at the same pace.

As for engines, car companies like BMW, Porsche, and Volvo dumped turbocharged engines on their hybrids to give them more oomph than your basic hybrids.

Experimenting with different fuel sources - Few companies trying to go beyond gasoline by experimenting with different fuel sources for their hybrids. For instance, Hyundai and Kia made a hybrid that runs on liquefied petroleum and it was based on the Avante HD and the Forte. Sadly, they never really made the cut. Then, Peugeot experimented with making a diesel hybrid on a 3008 crossover and the 508 RXH as well as Land Rover with their Range Rover Hybrid. Again, they never really made the cut.

Hybrids in motorsports - Even motorsports are catching up with the trend of hybrids, more importantly at the World Endurance Championship and Formula 1. Hybrids played a pivotal role in LMP1s since the Audi R18 corked numerous wins before Porsche returns with the 919, the car that became the three-time Le Mans champion before it bids farewell to this sport until 2023 with their new Hypercar-class contender, the 963. In Formula 1, they've even gone nuts with the kinetic energy recovery system, which recovers the car's energy during braking.

The rise of eco sportscars - The advent of the McLaren P1, Porsche 918, and the Ferrari LaFerrari sparked a new revolution in the eco-car race, using hybrid technology to unleash bare naked speed. It's not just them, but also Honda with their second-generation NSX with their Sport Hybrid SH-AWD powertrain, V6 turbo engine in the middle, and a double-clutch gearbox, capable of winning the hearts of car enthusiasts many. As for electric sportscars, well, with the Tesla Roadster pioneering the gig, there are a handful of carmakers creating electric supercars such as the Rimac Nevara and the Chinese-made NIO EP9.

...and there you have it. 25 years of electrification in the motoring world. Without the Toyota Prius, the world of motoring would become the dirtiest thing to come from planet Earth and looks like we have to give the Japanese a huge thanks.