Audi’s FIRST Hybrid was the Audi 100 Avant quattro Duo – 31 years ago

We may think of hybrid cars as a recent innovation, but the Audi 100 Avant quattro Duo arrived in 1989 using a petrol engine and electric motor.

Car makers are busy churning out hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles as they strive to bridge the gap between ICE cars and EVs, and deliver cars which cost business users less to run thanks to lower BIK rates.

Critics argue they offer the worst solution as they’re expensive to build and too complicated, but, for many, the idea of an electric motor for local runs and a petrol engine for longer journeys is appealing, and thanks to very clever modern technology the power sources are seamlessly integrated and the driving experience unchanged from an ICE.

But, and we confess that even those of us at Cars UK Towers old enough to remember, don’t recall that hybrid cars with an electric motor and ICE have been around since 1989. Yes, 31 years ago.

In 1989 Audi unveiled the Audi 100 Avant quattro Duo – and took it to Geneva the following year – with a 2.3 litre, five-cylinder engine sending 134bhp to the front wheels and a 12bhp Siemens electric motor, powered by a 9kW nickel-cadmium battery under the boot floor powering the back axle.

The power sources worked together in normal use, but if you pulled up, stuck the car in neutral and pressed the ‘E’ button on the dash, you could drive as an EV for up to 24 miles. There were even solar panels on the roof for a bit of battery help on sunny days.

Only 10 100 Avant quattro Duos were built and trialled – including using one as a taxi in Ingolstadt – with a second version arriving in 1991.

But it took until 1997 for Audi to deliver a plug-in hybrid model – the A4 Avant Duo – you could actually buy, featuring a 90bhp 1.9 litre diesel and 29bhp motor which could run by itself as an EV for short distances and be plugged-in, with Audi hoping to flog 500 a year at twice the price of a normal A4 Avant. In the end, they sold just 60.

Audi are hoping their current, and upcoming, crop of PHEVs – like the A7 Sportback TFSI e quattro, Q7 TFSI e quattro, A8 TFSI e quattro and the A6 TFSI e quattro – will do rather better.