Hybrid vehicles powered by both electricity and petrol are not a new invention; hybrid technology is actually as old as cars themselves.

Today’s petrol-electric hybrid vehicles are complex, high-tech pieces of engineering that combine an internal combustion engine with an electric battery to power the motor, increase fuel mileage and reduce emissions.

Besides having a smaller and more efficient engine, hybrids incorporate other design features to increase fuel efficiency, like using advanced aerodynamics to reduce drag and not relying on the petrol engine all the time.

A hybrid car achieves greater fuel economy and produces lower emissions than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles through elements such as:

• Recapturing energy that is normally wasted during braking (regenerative braking). This is a mechanism that reduces vehicle speed by converting some of its kinetic energy into another useful form of energy, especially in stop-and-go traffic.



• Having significant battery capacity to store and reuse recaptured energy, and shutting down the petrol engine during traffic stops, while coasting or other idle periods.



• Improving the car’s shape and aerodynamics. A box-shaped car has to exert more force to move through the air, creating more stress for the engine and making it work harder.

Two hybrid configurations exist. One is the parallel or “full hybrid” system and the other is the series configuration or “mild hybrid”. In the parallel system, the fuel tank supplies fuel to the engine, and a set of batteries provides power to the electric motor. Both the engine and the electric motor can turn the transmission together or independently, and the transmission, in turn, moves the wheels.

For series-type hybrids, the petrol engine turns a generator, and the generator can either charge the batteries or power an electric motor that drives the transmission. Thus, the engine never directly powers the vehicle.

Petrol engine: The hybrid car has a petrol engine similar to a normal car. However, the engine size is smaller and it uses advanced technology to reduce emissions and increase efficiency.

Fuel tank: This is the energy store for the petrol engine.

Electric motor: Advanced electronics allow the motor to act as a generator as well. Working as a motor, it can draw energy from the batteries to accelerate the car; as a generator, it can slow the car down and return energy to the batteries.

Generator: Similar to an electric motor, it acts only to produce electrical power. It is used mostly on series hybrids.

Batteries: The energy storage device for the electric motor. Unlike petrol, which can only power the engine, the electric motor on a hybrid car can put energy into the batteries as well as draw energy from them.

Transmission: The transmission performs the same basic function as the transmission on a conventional car. Some transmissions are conventional; others are radically different.