Transportation Energy

Hybrid Vehicles

The most common type of hybrid vehicle is a gasoline-electric hybrid, which runs on both gasoline and electric batteries. Batteries are recharged through a combination of regenerative braking and by the transfer of energy from the combustion engine to a generator. The all-electric hybrid vehicles can run on electricity alone and are charged from a standard household socket. A third type of hybrid is the flexible-fuel car that runs on a mixture of different fuels, such as gasoline and ethanol, hydrogen and natural gas, or diesel and biodiesel.

• Legislative Initiatives:  The Energy Policy Act of 2005 expanded the incentives for purchase of hybrid vehicles to as much as $3,400. However, the number of vehicles eligible for the credits is limited for each vehicle manufacturer.