Who designed the Lohner-Porsche vehicles that included the first hybrid electric vehicle?

Ferdinand Porsche designed the Lohner-Porsche vehicles, including the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle.

Porsche joined the Vienna coachbuilder Jacob Lohner & Company in the late 1890s to develop electric propulsion. His early Lohner-Porsche cars placed electric motors directly in the wheel hubs, eliminating the need for a conventional transmission and demonstrating an innovative approach to vehicle design.

The later Mixte, or Mixed, version added a gasoline engine and generator to supply electricity to the hub motors. This series-hybrid arrangement allowed the vehicle to reduce its dependence on a very heavy battery pack. The system is generally identified as the first petroleum-electric hybrid design.

The name can cause confusion because the vehicles were built by Lohner-Werke and developed through Porsche’s work there. Lohner was the manufacturer and commercial partner, while Ferdinand Porsche was the engineer most directly credited with the designs. More than 300 Lohner-Porsche vehicles were sold by 1906.