Hybrid vehicles are not so new

I recently saw a social media post of a late 60s muscle car. The meme said, “It’s a hybrid – half gas guzzler, half tire shredder." That doesn’t exactly fit the definition of hybrid, but I see where they come from. After looking at the definitions of “vehicle” and “hybrid,” I believe the strong and noble mule was the first hybrid vehicle in all of history.

Mules inherit from donkeys the traits of intelligence, sure-footedness, toughness, endurance, disposition, and natural cautiousness; from horses, they inherit speed, conformation and agility. They grow faster and live longer, giving them a larger interval of productivity compared to horses or donkeys.

That tells me that a hybrid of anything could possible be better. If I were the CEO of a major automotive manufacturer, I would have a hybrid model called the 'Mule.'

Enough mule fun for now, what about modern-day hybrid, gas/electric automobiles?

Hybrid vehicles are not so new—they've been around for over a century. Early prototypes appeared in the late 1800s to early 1900s, with a renewed interest in the 1960s due to pollution concerns and the Clean Air Act. However, widespread adoption began in the late 1990s, led by the commercial success of the Toyota Prius.

German engineers led the way with Henri Pieper (1899) developing the world's first petrol-electric hybrid automobile, as well as another German automotive engineer, Ferdinand Porsche's "Mixte" developed a hybrid electric car in 1901, combining a gasoline engine with an electric motor and battery. In later years, he created the VW Beetle, and of course, was the founder of Porsche.

As hybrid technology continued to evolve, with hybrid vehicles using both a gasoline engine and an electric motor power, it offered improved fuel efficiency compared to traditional gasoline vehicles. They utilize regenerative braking to charge the battery, and in some cases, they can operate solely on electric power at low speeds. Hybrids come in various forms, including mild hybrids, full hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEV), and range-extended electric vehicles (REEV).

When it comes to working on a hybrid, especially if you are inexperienced, the first job is safety. Please follow all safety instructions and heed all warnings as seen below.

Snap-on Tools that feature guided component tests have classes, I call it "school in the tool"—start with safety training, giving you the fundamentals you need to take on these hybrid systems.

Terminology is different from gas or diesel engine vehicles. Classes will even go into that.

When diagnosing a hybrid, the gasoline side of things will be familiar. Diagnosing the hybrid side will require information, data, special tests, and training. The hybrid systems and subsystems will have custom data lists to choose from.

Data will be related to the battery and, of course, temperatures. There are also the control units and chargers. Snap-on Smart Data has min/max specification windows that flag a PID or data as out of spec., making data diagnosis much faster and more accurate.

A case study we came across involved a Toyota Prius. It had a P0AC0 code, which indicates that the battery current sensor circuit failed. We will need to go to guided component tests to find out how this circuit and sensor works, how to hook it up to test it properly and what “good” should look like on a meter or scope.

I recommend learning everything you can about the job at hand so you can fix it right the first time and maximize your potential profit. Think of this as on-the-job training—you’ll be earning as you learn.

You have operation info, best test location, pin assignments and specs. In this case, the vehicle is out of spec and tests badly.

The vehicle’s battery current sensor was replaced, but to complete the fix, you’ll need to calibrate the new sensor to the hybrid ECU. This will allow the vehicle's hybrid system to charge properly.

From service resets and relearns, we simply request battery current initialization, and that’s it, job complete!

So, like the mule, hybrid automobiles take the best attributes of a horse and a donkey, or in the case of the vehicle, take the best attributes of gas and electric-powered vehicles, until something better comes along.

For more on this topic, visit Snap-on's website.