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Time to test your knowledge of motoring history: guess when the first hybrid car was produced. 2000? Wrong century. 1990? Miles out? 1960? Not even halfway there. No, it was 1899. Incredible, isn’t it - over 110 years ago there was a petrol-electric hybrid bought by a paying customer.

For a bonus point, guess who made it. Daimler-Benz? Close, but not right. Rolls-Royce? Not even formed in 1899. No, it was designed and built by Ferdinand Porsche (and delivered to an Englishman), so the prospect of a KERS-equipped 911 is nothing new although I suspect the technology’s probably moved on a bit since their last attempt.

It’s no surprise that we’re seeing more and more hybrids on the roads. The concept’s clearly nothing new but it’s a sound stepping stone between oil-powered and full plug-in vehicles. More importantly it starts to get millions of drivers worldwide used to the notion of driving under new propulsion - hybrids and even plug-in electric vehicles are just the first step in a journey and not a final destination. It will take years of development to get us to where we need to be, but don’t lose sight of how long it’s taken to get petrol & diesel engines to the level of refinement they now achieve.

As petrol-heads, we probably all need to rewire our expectations of what a car is and how it delivers. The prospect of a vehicle that serves up its performance with a minimal environmental impact and which can be refueled through a 3-pin plug might be still an odd concept, but it’s not as much of a shift as the horseless carriage was for those who, until that point, had only ever travelled by pony and trap.

The way in which our cars are powered will change – that’s a given – but those changes won’t happen overnight; it’s taken us over a century to perfect the petrol engine and longer to revamp the hybrid. Herr Porsche had some immense foresight in 1899. The great comfort today is that the finest minds in the industry are taking his ideas forward.

By Tim Heavisides, Group CEO of Car Care Plan Holdings.

This article originally featured in Car Dealer Magazine.

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