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Dear hybrid technology stake holders and friends,

About two years ago, when Hybrid Alliance was first taking shape, the entire automotive world, both light and heavy duty, was zeroed in on the extinction of the internal combustion engine and the transition to full battery electric drive, across all vehicles, use cases and geographical regions. The pressure to focus all powertrain investments in this direction was especially high in Europe, (even though the Chinese government and industry was arguably more effective). What European policy makers didn’t realize was that the journey from 100% reliance on fossil fuel for road transportation, to a world which had rid itself of all fossil fuel dependence, was not a pure vehicle industry challenge. They chose to ignore the width and depth of this undertaking spanning across almost all areas of society.

While the public message about all-electric was hammered both from political assemblies, media, and compliant industry players, other work was ongoing, silently, in small start-ups, skunk works of large corporations, universities and think tanks. Many enough realized that the path to full electrification would be a lot longer, bumpier and more costly than anticipated, and that we will most likely not get to that final goal in our lifetime, if we still want a functioning civilization as we know it. The silent work ongoing explored all thinkable alternative technologies that could viably reduce carbon emissions, realistically, in steps, instead of the all-or-nothing approach officially adopted by the bigger players.

That was when Matthias Vogel, who was then COO of one of those mentioned start-ups, contacted me to discuss how we could create some sort of organization which could tie together different entities and stakeholders to promote technical collaboration, knowledge sharing, and raise awareness of the merits of hybrid powertrains. Hybrid powertrains, we both knew, were a huge potential for short term de-carbonization of road transportation, which could deliver emission reductions way faster for the thousands of use cases which couldn’t be converted to all-electric in a long, long time. And with a positive business case on top of it. We agreed. Hybrid Alliance was founded with nine founding members and went to work.

Hybrid Alliance never grew large and powerful and visible in the debate. But we became the only go-to organization for hybrid discussion, publications and news. Mostly because stakeholders, naturally didn’t have deep pockets since the big money was directed in the way of all-electric. Our voice was never loud, but it was heard. And then, at the early beginning of 2025, reality was dawning on Europe as it became clear that the trajectory of all-electric market penetration was way behind what policy makers had wished for, and the industry (alone) had tried to deliver. Energy companies, city planners, infrastructure authorities and owners… The society. None of them had felt the flame and, naturally hadn’t moved much in the direction of what was needed. The industry stood with expensively engineered products almost nobody had an interest in buying. And with reality staring us all in the face, what was called the “Strategic Dialogue” was initiated by the European automotive industry’s #1 voice, the ACEA. And the law makers had to listen.

With ‘technology neutrality’ soon being a term possible to use without condemnation, the interest in realistic and practical ways of reducing carbon emissions in more ways than one, has sky rocketed. The awareness our Alliance was meant to create is now out there. Stakeholders now have bigger and more powerful organizations to work through to facilitate both technical development and lobby for sensible policies. 

Hybrid Alliance was a means to an end, and not and end in itself. This is why we now close the books on the Hybrid Alliance chapter and join the greater effort to develop low-carbon transportation that users can actually chose without compromizing utility and competitiveness.

Thanks for all your support!

Anders Nyström, Vice Chair