The history of hybrid vehicles has gaps in it. Many would associate its origins with the Toyota Prius, which debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1995. Indeed, it became the first mass-market hybrid passenger car upon the beginning of production in 1997.
However, the first hybrid vehicle was actually engineer Ferdinand Porsche's Lohner-Porsche Mixte built in 1899. This car was fuelled by gasoline, which created power for an electric motor.
But Estonia has its own hand in the story of the hybrid vehicle, between those two eras. Engineer and Estonian community member Jüri Otsason, who passed away in September 2022, was closely involved in the creation of a hybrid car back in 1970.
It all began when Otsason emigrated to Canada at the age of 20. The year was 1966. Otsason went ahead of his parents August and Saale, who were still in Stockholm. It was here, at the University of Toronto, that he pursued a Master's degree in mechanical engineering.
Around this time, US legislation such as the Clean Air Act of 1963 and US-wide tailpipe emission standards in 1968 contributed to the buzz and interest around mitigating pollution from automobiles. Douglas Venn, a car enthusiast and fellow student, had attended the January 1970 Congress of the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit, where he heard about the Great Electric Car Race of 1968. Thrilled to take part in the next race for students with his own low-emission vehicle, Venn approached Otsason and around a dozen other students and professors back in Toronto to create a vehicle for the race in August of that year.
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