Hybrid and all-electric cars, such as the latest Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid, may be presented as a modern mobility solution. Still, electric and battery power were already pioneered over a century ago, also by the man who founded Porsche.
In fact, Ferdinand Porsche designed the first-ever hybrid car, unveiled as a prototype in 1900 – 110 years before the launch of the Cayenne S Hybrid in 2010, the first electrified Porsche of the modern era, and nearly 125 years before the first 911 hybrid, the GTS T-Hybrid.
The Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus – its name meaning “forever alive” in Latin – had a combustion engine powering a generator that sent a charge to the wheel hubs to drive them. In 1901, it was launched as the production-ready Lohner-Porsche “Mixte”, and for almost a century, it remained the last Porsche-designed electrified car.
Fast forward another eight decades and, in 2010, the spiritual heir to the world’s first-ever hybrid car was launched. Today, electromobility is a key component of both Porsche’s present and future, as seen in its E-Hybrid, T-Hybrid, and full-electric vehicles. And it all began with technology that was pioneered 125 years ago. Semper Vivus.
Report by FERDI DE VOS | Images © PORSCHE AG
