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A hybrid car uses more than one power source, almost always an internal-combustion engine and an electric motor. In the hybrid design, the combustion engine is the final source of the energy used to power the car, though an alternative motor assists when more power is demanded using stored energy. This contrasts with all-electric cars which use batteries charged by an external source. Benefits of the hybrid design include the following:
The vehicle is lighter and roomier than a purely electric vehicle of comparable size and power because fewer heavy batteries are needed.
The internal-combustion engine in a hybrid vehicle can be much smaller, lighter, and more efficient than the engine in a conventional vehicle, because the electric motor can provide a boost of power for acceleration.
Braking can be configured to recapture part of the kinetic energy of movement that would otherwise be wasted as heat in a conventional vehicle. This is called regenerative braking.
Most hybrid powertrains are characterized by a split power path called a powersplit. One side of this split is mechanical and the other side of this power path is electrical.
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