Alexei Severinsky

Who is Alexei Severinsky?

Alexei "Alex" Severinsky is a Soviet emigre living in the United States. He graduated from the Kharkiv University of Radioelectronics in 1967 and got his Candidate of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Institute for Precision Measurements in Radioelectronics and Physics in Moscow in 1975. Before the emigration he worked in Kharkiv. Severinsky emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1978.

Severinsky is the inventor of the Hyperdrive power-amplified internal combustion engine power train. He patented this invention in 1994. The system is used in hybrid cars, in particular in the Toyota Prius. On August 16, 2006, a U.S. federal judge required Toyota to pay Alex Severinsky $25 for every Prius II, Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX400h hybrid sold in the United States. On 21 July 2010 Severinsky and Toyota agreed on a settlement.