Clarifying Hybrid Cars: The Three Types of Hybrid Engines

There are fundamentally three types of hybrid cars: the "mild-hybrids" which have a small electric motor, where the driver does not intervene in any way, and which only assist the internal combustion engine when it shows a need: during acceleration, such as uphill climbs, overtaking, and starting.

The small battery recharges during braking and downhill driving, and the electric motor serves only to reduce the consumption of the internal combustion engine; the car always runs on petrol.

The "full hybrids" where the internal combustion engine alternates with the electric one, but it is not the driver who determines when to run on petrol and when on electric: below a certain speed, the vehicle runs on electric, starts on electric, and the traction battery recharges during braking and downhill driving like the Mild. Finally, there are the Plug-in hybrids: as the name suggests, here the electric charging occurs via a plug, but they also recharge through regenerative braking.

Here, it is the driver who decides when the vehicle runs on electric and when it runs on petrol: naturally, since the plug charging is predominant, we must have a power socket available to carry out the charges.