History of plug-in hybrids

The history of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) spans a little more than a century, but most of the significant commercial developments have taken place after 2002. The revival of interest in this automotive technology together with all-electric cars is due to advances in battery and power management technologies, and concerns about increasingly volatile oil prices and supply disruption, and also the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Between 2003 and 2010 most PHEVs on the roads were conversions of production hybrid electric vehicles, and the most prominent PHEVs were aftermarket conversions of 2004 or later Toyota Prius, which have had plug-in charging and more lead-acid batteries added and their electric-only range extended.

As of December 2015^[update], over 25 models of highway-capable plug-in hybrids have been launched in several markets since December 2008, including the BYD F3DM (out of production), the Chevrolet Volt and its siblings Opel/Vauxhall Ampera and Holden Volt, Prius Plug-in Hybrid (out of production), Fisker Karma (out of production), Ford C-Max Energi, Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid, Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid (out of production), Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, Ford Fusion Energi, McLaren P1 (limited production), Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid, Cadillac ELR, BYD Qin, Volkswagen XL1 (limited production), BMW i8, Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid, Volkswagen Golf GTE, Audi A3 e-tron, Porsche 918 Spyder (limited edition), Mercedes-Benz S 500 Plug-in Hybrid, SAIC Roewe 550 PHEV, Mercedes-Benz C 350e Plug-in Hybrid, Volvo S60L PHEV, BYD Tang, Volkswagen Passat GTE, Volvo XC90 T8, BMW X5 xDrive40e and Hyundai Sonata PHEV.

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