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Torque shop: Differentiating a hybrid car
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Hybrid EV: Cars like the BMW i3 are essentially electric vehicles, but with an engine to charge the batteries.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Shreejit Changaroth
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The term “hybrid electric vehicle” or HEV was originally used to identify a car that has an internal combustion engine (ICE) as its primary drive, but also incorporates an electric motor in the drive train and a battery pack that can power the driven wheels independently, or in combination with the engine.
Although the invention dates back more than a century, the first real production hybrid passenger car was the Toyota Prius of 1997.
