7. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles

7.1 Hybrid vehicles

A hybrid vehicle uses two energy sources for propulsion: most often gasoline, and more rarely diesel, to power an internal combustion engine, and an electrically-charged battery to power an electric motor.

The most emblematic example is Toyota's Prius, the first hybrid vehicle to be marketed. The first generation, which wasn't very interesting, was marketed from December 1997 to 2003. The one that really took off commercially was the Prius II, marketed between 2003 and 2009. Both generations were powered by a 1.5-liter internal combustion engine. The third generation (2009-2015) and the fourth (2015-2022) featured a 1.8-liter internal combustion engine. The number of Toyota Prius vehicles sold grew much faster than the automaker had anticipated....