Update: David Arthur’s Hybrid Electric Car

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PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Pages from the hybrid electric car plans David Arthur created for MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers. INSET: Arthur standing beside his hybrid car.

Six months ago, we published an article about a 75-mile-per-gallon hybrid electric automobile that a fellow out in Springdale, Arkansas built–in just a month’s worth of spare time–for a scant $1,500.

The car’s designer, Dave Arthurs, not only developed the vehicle using standard off-the-shelf parts and reasonably priced military surplus, but also fabricated a motor controller (which, up to this point, had been the “joker in the deck” for many electric vehicle enthusiasts . . . because of the typically high cost and low efficiency of such units). Furthermore, Mr. Arthurs’ controller was made from $25 worth of junkyard parts, was a cinch to build, and–better still–consumed a minimum of precious energy while in operation.

What’s more, Dave was willing to share his automotive “discovery” … by first permitting MOTHER EARTH NEWS to report on what he’d done, then by working with this magazine to develop a set of plans to, help other folks build their own hybrid electric car!

Nothing Succeeds Like Success

And build they did. To date, thousands of folks have ordered plans so that they, too, could take advantage of the economy that David Arthurs enjoys. (His hybrid car uses a fuel-sipping 5 horsepower generator drive engine, and can attain speeds of up to 90 MPH!)

  • Published on Jan 1, 1980
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