ELECTRICAL ENGINEER VICTOR WOUK, DEVELOPED HYBRID CAR, DEAD AT 86 - June 20, 2005
Victor Wouk, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur who developed the first full-size version of the modern hybrid car, died of cancer May 19. He was 86.
Wouk held more than 10 patents. In the early 1970s, he formed his own company, Petro-Electric Motors, to develop a hybrid vehicle for the federal government.
The Clean Air Act, passed by Congress in 1970, which called for the development of a car engine that could eliminate 90 percent of the pollutants then being emitted by engines, spurred his work.
Wouk and friends invested about $300,000 into the project and he and a partner, Charles Rosen, modified a 1972 Buick Skylark with a rotary engine and an electric motor that supplied peak power when needed.
The car proved effective in independent lab tests. It met the strictest emission standards, got 30 miles to a gallon of gas and its top speed was 85 mph. Nevertheless, it failed the Environmental Protection Agency's tests.
Petro-Electric folded and Wouk became a consultant and remained a booster for hybrid cars. He believed Toyota's 1997 introduction of a gasoline-electric car was affirmation of his life's work, said son Jordan.
"The Toyota Prius reflects a lot of his input," Jordan Wouk said. "That was his 30-year quest, and he was vindicated."
At Cal-tech in December, the Wouk family established a lectureship in Victor Wouk's honor to bring to campus experts on the latest advances in science and technology.
Wouk was too ill to attend the first lecture, but his son Jonathan rigged up a speaker phone that allowed his father to listen from his bed. He died three hours later.
Wouk is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joy; his brother, Herman, two sons, Jonathan and Jordan, and a grandson.
Victor Wouk, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur who developed the first full-size version of the modern hybrid car, died of cancer May 19. He was 86.
Wouk held more than 10 patents. In the early 1970s, he formed his own company, Petro-Electric Motors, to develop a hybrid vehicle for the federal government.
The Clean Air Act, passed by Congress in 1970, which called for the development of a car engine that could eliminate 90 percent of the pollutants then being emitted by engines, spurred his work.
Wouk and friends invested about $300,000 into the project and he and a partner, Charles Rosen, modified a 1972 Buick Skylark with a rotary engine and an electric motor that supplied peak power when needed.
The car proved effective in independent lab tests. It met the strictest emission standards, got 30 miles to a gallon of gas and its top speed was 85 mph. Nevertheless, it failed the Environmental Protection Agency's tests.
Petro-Electric folded and Wouk became a consultant and remained a booster for hybrid cars. He believed Toyota's 1997 introduction of a gasoline-electric car was affirmation of his life's work, said son Jordan.
"The Toyota Prius reflects a lot of his input," Jordan Wouk said. "That was his 30-year quest, and he was vindicated."
At Cal-tech in December, the Wouk family established a lectureship in Victor Wouk's honor to bring to campus experts on the latest advances in science and technology.
Wouk was too ill to attend the first lecture, but his son Jonathan rigged up a speaker phone that allowed his father to listen from his bed. He died three hours later.
Wouk is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joy; his brother, Herman, two sons, Jonathan and Jordan, and a grandson.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER VICTOR WOUK, DEVELOPED HYBRID CAR, DEAD AT 86 - June 20, 2005
Victor Wouk, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur who developed the first full-size version of the modern hybrid car, died of cancer May 19. He was 86.
Wouk held more than 10 patents. In the early 1970s, he formed his own company, Petro-Electric Motors, to develop a hybrid vehicle for the federal government.
The Clean Air Act, passed by Congress in 1970, which called for the development of a car engine that could eliminate 90 percent of the pollutants then being emitted by engines, spurred his work.
Wouk and friends invested about $300,000 into the project and he and a partner, Charles Rosen, modified a 1972 Buick Skylark with a rotary engine and an electric motor that supplied peak power when needed.
The car proved effective in independent lab tests. It met the strictest emission standards, got 30 miles to a gallon of gas and its top speed was 85 mph. Nevertheless, it failed the Environmental Protection Agency's tests.
Petro-Electric folded and Wouk became a consultant and remained a booster for hybrid cars. He believed Toyota's 1997 introduction of a gasoline-electric car was affirmation of his life's work, said son Jordan.
"The Toyota Prius reflects a lot of his input," Jordan Wouk said. "That was his 30-year quest, and he was vindicated."
At Cal-tech in December, the Wouk family established a lectureship in Victor Wouk's honor to bring to campus experts on the latest advances in science and technology.
Wouk was too ill to attend the first lecture, but his son Jonathan rigged up a speaker phone that allowed his father to listen from his bed. He died three hours later.
Wouk is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joy; his brother, Herman, two sons, Jonathan and Jordan, and a grandson.
Victor Wouk, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur who developed the first full-size version of the modern hybrid car, died of cancer May 19. He was 86.
Wouk held more than 10 patents. In the early 1970s, he formed his own company, Petro-Electric Motors, to develop a hybrid vehicle for the federal government.
The Clean Air Act, passed by Congress in 1970, which called for the development of a car engine that could eliminate 90 percent of the pollutants then being emitted by engines, spurred his work.
Wouk and friends invested about $300,000 into the project and he and a partner, Charles Rosen, modified a 1972 Buick Skylark with a rotary engine and an electric motor that supplied peak power when needed.
The car proved effective in independent lab tests. It met the strictest emission standards, got 30 miles to a gallon of gas and its top speed was 85 mph. Nevertheless, it failed the Environmental Protection Agency's tests.
Petro-Electric folded and Wouk became a consultant and remained a booster for hybrid cars. He believed Toyota's 1997 introduction of a gasoline-electric car was affirmation of his life's work, said son Jordan.
"The Toyota Prius reflects a lot of his input," Jordan Wouk said. "That was his 30-year quest, and he was vindicated."
At Cal-tech in December, the Wouk family established a lectureship in Victor Wouk's honor to bring to campus experts on the latest advances in science and technology.
Wouk was too ill to attend the first lecture, but his son Jonathan rigged up a speaker phone that allowed his father to listen from his bed. He died three hours later.
Wouk is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joy; his brother, Herman, two sons, Jonathan and Jordan, and a grandson.
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