At the beginning of the twentieth century the internal combustion engine started to take over from electrically-powered vehicles. Now, a hundred years later, electric vehicles are slowly but surely making a come-back. Development continues apace and the enormous potential is clear. The key to the success of electric vehicles lies, contrary to early expectations, in lithiumion cells rather than in fuel cells. It was an electric vehicle, driven by Belgian Camille Jenatzy, that was first to break the magical 60 mph (about 100 km/ h) barrier in 1899. His torpedo-shaped car was accelerated to 105.88 km/h by 200 V lead-acid batteries powering two 25 kW motors. Although not lacking in power, the vehicle fell rather short when it came to endurance. No less an individual than Ferdinand Porsche, working at the Lohner company in Vienna, was inspired by this to try to overcome the disadvantages of electric drive by combining it with a petrol engine, thereby inventing the first hybrid vehicle. The design was also the first to feature an electric hub motor and all-wheel drive.
From then on the onward march of the motor car, first with internal combustion petrol engines and then with diesel engines, seemed unstoppable. The most significant factor in their rise was the ready availability of cheap crude oil from which fuel could be made. A century later, conditions have changed for the internal combustion engine. Oil is becoming scarcer and more expensive, and there is pressure to reduce CO2 emissions significantly. In today’s hybrid vehicles the benefits now work in the opposite direction: the electric drive serves to help overcome the disadvantages of the internal combustion engine.