Put this in the category of things I never knew. Also tag it for the area “Boneheaded moves by American Motor Companies.”
Popular Science asked “wouldn’t it be great to have a car that changed from electric drive for use around town to gasoline power for highway driving?” and GM answered with the XP-883.
“It makes so much sense,” the magazine wrote in July, 1969, “that we feel they’re missing a bet if they don’t put it in production.”
The first American Plugin Hybrid
Well, I guess somebody is hitting themselves now. Plugins, Hybrids, high MPG vehicles, and anything that can save consumers on gas prices is huge right now. Think of the market share GM would have right now if somebody in the business actually urged it to go into production.
There would be no such thing as Prius envy if this was done.
The heart of the car was a 35 cubic inch (573 cc) two-cylinder engine — small enough to be exempt from the emissions rules of the day — coupled with a DC motor powered by six lead-acid batteries just like the one under your hood. You could tool around in all-electric mode or in gas-electric mode, according to PopSci. In hybrid mode, the electric motor did all the work to about 10 mph, at which point the gasoline engine took over. If you needed to really get up and go, the engine and motor worked in tandem. Still, the car was as slow as it was advanced. Top speed was just 60 mph, and it needed 28 seconds to get there — making it only slightly faster than a Citroen 2CV6
Ok, so top speed was a little slow. Right. Frighteningly slow. But that orange is sexy!
via TreeHuger
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My Prius is APPRECIATING value. When I get oil changes and tune ups at the Toyota dealership, they ask to buy it from me for about $2000 more than I paid for it over a year and 30,000 miles ago. Insane!