Tomorrow’s Tech Treepowered by Astra

Transportation · Recorded milestone

Mass-market hybrid car

Recorded year1997

The Toyota Prius pairs an engine with a battery and electric motor under computer control.

Explore this milestone on the interactive map

Built on

Ford Model TRecorded · 1908enables
MicroprocessorRecorded · 1971enables
Power transistors (IGBT)Recorded · 1983enables
Neodymium magnetsRecorded · 1984enables
Nickel-metal hydride batteryRecorded · 1989enables

Led to

Modern electric carRecorded · 2008enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.