I used to think they were a crappy 1/4-step toward EVs, that their main feature was regenerative braking, and that all their gas savings vanished in highway driving.
All of that is wrong.
What they are is a different tuning of internal combustion engine that gets much better gas mileage but has terrible acceleration. Hybrids augment that acceleration intelligently with an electric motor so it’s not so noticeable, removing the big complaint you’d otherwise have with one of those engines in your car. And the gas savings are actually most dramatic in highway driving.
Technology Connections video on hybrids opened my eyes to what they actually are.
I used to think they were a crappy 1/4-step toward EVs, that their main feature was regenerative braking, and that all their gas savings vanished in highway driving.
All of that is wrong.
What they are is a different tuning of internal combustion engine that gets much better gas mileage but has terrible acceleration. Hybrids augment that acceleration intelligently with an electric motor so it’s not so noticeable, removing the big complaint you’d otherwise have with one of those engines in your car. And the gas savings are actually most dramatic in highway driving.