Hybrid

The word ‚hybrid’ comes originally from the Ancient Greek and means mixture or combination. Typically, in a hybrid vehicle, a combustion engine is combined with an electric motor. That does sound futuristic, but in 1899, Ferdinand Porsche had already built a hybrid for Lohner that he entered successfully in races.

The Lohner was purely electric-driven; the permanently-running combustion engine generated the necessary electricity. We call this sytem today a ‚serial hybrid’. It provides superior steering and optimal energy use, but it also, unfortunately, continually produces CO2 emissions.

Today, various manufacturers offer hybrid vehicles. In these, the electric motor serves mostly to supplement the combustion engine, which serves as the main power source and also simultaneously recharges the batteries. This system is known as a ‚parallel hybrid’. Even though it brings advantages to city driving, the environment-saving pure-electric drive is largely incidental.

In the latest generation of hybrid vehicles, the batteries can be recharged via normal domestic power points. Because of this, these systems are also known as ‚plug-in’ hybrids. They provide emission-free driving as long as the batteries remain charged.

At mindset, hybrid means the combination of all these advantages. As a ‚plug-in’ hybrid, the mindset’s batteries can be recharged in a matter of hours from a domestic wall socket. In pure electric mode, therefore, it has a range of around 100 km – completely emission-free. And as a serial hybrid the mindset can use, if required, an economical combustion engine to charge the batteries. And with the inbuilt Range Extender, journeys of over 800 km without re-fuelling stops are, therefore, possible.