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.

This article is about history of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. For the history of all-electric vehicles, see history of the electric vehicle.

The BYD F3DM was the world's first mass produced plug-in hybrid passenger car, launched in China for fleet sales in December 2008.
The Chevrolet Volt family is the world's all-time top selling plug-in hybrid electric car. Global sales passed the 100,000 unit milestone in October 2015.

Global sales of plug-in hybrids grew from over 300 units in 2010 to almost 9,000 in 2011, jumped to over 60,000 in 2012, and reached almost 222,000 in 2015. As of December 2015, the United States is the world's largest plug-in hybrid car market with a stock of 193,770 units, followed by China with 86,580 vehicles, the Netherlands with 78,160, Japan with 55,470 units, and the UK with 28,250. As of June 2016, about 640,000 highway legal plug-in hybrid electric cars have been sold worldwide since December 2008, out of total global sales of over 1.5 million light-duty plug-in electric cars. As of June 2016, the Volt/Ampera family is the world's all-time top selling plug-in hybrid car, with global sales of about 117,300 units, followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with global sales of about 107,400 units, and the Toyota Prius PHEV with more than 75,400 units delivered globally.

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