It was in 1905 for the first time an effort was made to use hybrid technology in cars. Energy saving efforts was not the prime focus of that time. But the efforts were to increase the speed from zero to twenty-five miles an hour in ten seconds. And sadly with in time this technology got approval, accelerators had already become a part of cars.
The hybrid technology at that period had few takers. The hybrid energy was used for the first time in US in 1918. Again here the main purpose was speed, not cutting the fuel costs. But serious efforts on introduction of hybrid energy were considered for first time in 1960’s. The United States Congress in 1966 felt the need to cut down air pollution and recommended bills that would boost up the production of electric vehicles. This later led to the production of an advanced battery that would ease the transportation on highways.
Most of the developed countries including Germany and Japan started introducing hybrid cars as the air pollution seemed touching serious level. Most big names like Toyota and Volkswagen started introducing hybrid cars. Toyota was the first car maker to bring out hybrid cars to the public. In 1997, it was marketed solely to Japanese people.
Honda was the first automaker to bring out a hybrid car in the US. The first two-seated hybrid car rolled on US roads in 2000, which was followed by different models.
Ford offered its Escape Hybrid in 2004, which is a SUV. With the popularity for hybrid cars getting increased, almost all big names started bringing out hybrid vehicles into the US market.
Apart from the US, many Asian countries including Japan, Korea and Singapore are promoting hybrid cars by providing tax relief to the owners. With in near future, it is sure that fuel vehicles will become part of the history and hybrid vehicles becoming the complete source of transportation.