Hybrid electric vehicle

A vehicle that combines electric propulsion with an internal-combustion engine. Its power sources can propel the vehicle separately or together, depending on its design.

Hybrid drivetrain: The arrangement of an internal-combustion engine, electric motor, transmission, and power-control components in a hybrid vehicle. Its layout determines how the engine and motor divide propulsion.
Mild hybrid: A hybrid vehicle whose electric motor assists the engine but usually cannot propel the vehicle alone. It represents the limited-electric-drive end of hybrid designs.
Toyota Prius: A Toyota model line introduced in Japan in 1997 and sold internationally as a mass-market hybrid car. Its history illustrates the commercialization of hybrid passenger cars.
Lohner–Porsche: An early automobile design by Ferdinand Porsche that used electric wheel motors and, in some versions, an engine-driven generator. It demonstrated an early approach to combining combustion power generation with electric drive.
Well-to-wheel emissions: Greenhouse-gas emissions from producing a vehicle’s energy through its use in transportation. It captures fuel-production impacts that tailpipe comparisons omit.
Regenerative braking: A process that converts a vehicle’s kinetic energy into electrical energy during deceleration. Hybrid vehicles use it to recharge the battery while slowing down.
Full hybrid: A hybrid vehicle capable of electric-only propulsion for limited distances or conditions. It can drive on its motor alone, unlike a mild hybrid.
Honda Insight: A Honda model line launched in 1999 as one of the first hybrid cars sold in the United States. It provides an early production example distinct from the Prius.
Ferdinand Porsche: An Austrian automotive engineer and designer who developed early electric and hybrid vehicles. His work produced one of the earliest influential hybrid vehicle designs.
Life-cycle assessment: A method for estimating environmental impacts across a product’s manufacture, use, and end of life. It helps compare hybrid batteries’ production impacts with operational fuel savings.

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