It’s still true: There’s seldom anything really new in the automotive world. Take for example the Woods Dual Power, an early example of a gasoline-electric hybrid.
Clifton Edgar Woods (1863-1927) was a pioneer in electric vehicles himself. A prolific author on numerous subjects, in 1900 he wrote one of the first books on EVs, The Electric Automobile: Its Construction, Care, and Operation. He could speak with authority on the subject, as he was involved in a number of EV manufacturing startups. When his Woods Motor Vehicle Company of Chicago introduced the Woods Dual Power in 1916, it wasn’t the first gasoline-electric hybrid, but it was an earnest attempt to offer the innovation in volume production to the U.S. car-buying public. (Earlier hybrids include the 1900 Lohner-Porsche.)
Long story short, the Dual Power drivetrain consisted of a Continental 4-cylinder gasoline engine (69 CID, 2.5-in x 3.5-in bore and stroke) and a General Electric DC electric motor-generator, coupled together in tandem via an electromagnetic clutch. The gas engine was rated at 14 hp, the electric motor at 6 hp, and the 48-volt lead-acid battery array was mounted in the rear of the chassis.
There was no transmission. At speeds up to 15 mph or in reverse, the car ran on the electric motor only, and for higher speeds the gas engine could be engaged, sending torque through the electic motor’s armature. Max speed was quoted as 35 mph, while charging could be performed on the fly via regenerative braking or the gasoline engine.
The hybrid system was controlled via two simple levers on the steering column (above) that looked much like the throttle and spark levers on a conventional automobile of the period. Ease of operation was the major selling point, and the pitch was directed primarily to women, just as with the pure battery-electric cars of the period—but with greater range, speed, and flexibility.
Offered in one body style, a tidy coupe riding on a 110-inch wheelbase, the Dual Power was a smart and well-appointed vehicle with at least one major handicap: price. At $2650, it cost as much as two Buicks. For 1918, the wheelbase was lengthened to 124 inches, the gas engine was enlarged to 95 CID, and the price was increased to $2950, but that did nothing to boost sales and the Dual Power was discontinued. Two surviving examples can be seen at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.
Probably the biggest drawback to the purchase of these cars by ladies, was the lack of a means to electrically start the gasoline engine. You can see from the last photo of the tan & white Woods Dual Power above, it still had a fixed engine starting crank at the base of the radiator.
Towards the end of the Woods Dual Power car, the company removed the starting crank and added another lever, that after using the electric motor to drive up to about 15mph, on moving the new lever, it would engage the magnetic clutch and use the electric motor to start the gas engine.
As I understand it, to start the gasoline engine the driver simply turns on the ignition and disengages the clutch. The electric motor serves as the starter. In the 1916 sales catalog this is touted as an important feature as electric self-starters were not yet commonplace.
Interesting.
Kind of – but maybe not exactly – like push starting a manual transmission equipped car?
One more interesting aspect is the claim that one could charge the battery on the road with the gasoline engine. That would be just like driving with the regenerative braking applied. Some fine adjustment with the levers would be required to balance that out.