Comparing technological advancement of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in different market segments

Article history: Received 20 January 2014 Received in revised form 21 April 2014 Accepted 19 May 2014 Available online 19 June 2014 The Toyota Prius was first introduced in 1997 and since then over 150 hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have been brought to the automobile market around the world. This was spurred by a major interest in the future of vehicles using ‘alternative fuel’ for addressing environmental and fuel dependency concerns. Based upon previous work, which identified an input–output model that could successfully explain the progress of HEV technologies, this study evaluates and compares the technological advancement observed in different HEV market segments over the past 15 years. The results indicate that the introduction of a wide range of midsize HEVs is posing a threat to the two-seaters and compact HEV segments while an SUV segment shows a fast adoption with a significant performance improvement. The rates of change for each segment are also provided to give insights into the estimation of the future performance levels for new product development target setting purposes. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.