Everything You Need to Know About Hybrid Cars

What’s the difference between a hybrid, a mild hybrid, and a plug-in hybrid? This is the WIRED guide for the electric-curious.

Have you heard? The hybrids are coming. As sales growth falters for electric vehicles, particularly in the United States, automakers have started to turn their gaze toward the EV’s less-charged-up cousins.

Some may see hybrids as less sexy, or less worthy, than full-electric cars. But global government emissions rules, along with hybrids’ reputation as an EV “gateway drug,” have made these cars an attractive stop on the electrified vehicle roadmap. Expect to see way more of them for sale in the coming years.

Alas, the world of hybrids is confusing. Some plug in for power; some don’t. Some can avoid gas fuel altogether; some won’t operate without it. As a result, some come with big emissions (and gas money) savings. Frustratingly, some commentators call all hybrids, well, “hybrids,” without specifying which technology they’re using.

Here’s WIRED’s guide to everything you need to know about hybrid cars.

Table of Contents

• So, What’s a Hybrid?
• What's a Hybrid Going to Cost Me?
• What Hybrid Should I Choose?
• Running Costs
• Trade-In Value

The electric-curious car buyer will want to know a few key terms—and acronyms. Your standard gas-powered car has an internal combustion engine, so it’s sometimes called an ICE vehicle. These vehicles tend to produce the most emissions. On the other side of the spectrum are battery-electric cars, or EVs or BEVs, which are powered by a battery connected to an electric motor. (Confusingly, some data sources group plug-in hybrids under the larger EV umbrella.) BEVs must be plugged in to charge up. The climate friendliness of these depends, to a degree, on what’s inside their batteries and how your local electricity grid is powered, but plenty of research has confirmed that EVs always produce fewer lifetime emissions than ICE vehicles.

Hybrids are more complicated but can be broken into three big categories: mild hybrids, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids.

Mild hybrids use larger-than-standard electrical generators (alternators) to give some extra assist to a gas-powered engine. This setup allows the gas engine to turn off, for example, while the car is coasting or when it’s at a stop light. “They offer a bit of fuel economy gain,” says Will Kaufman, a senior editor at Edmunds, an automotive publication—somewhere in the 15 to 10 percent range. But generally, he says, automakers aren’t focusing on this tech anymore.

Hybrids, or HEVs, have both gas engines and electric motors, which get their power from batteries. No plugs here: A hybrid’s electric motor is charged by its gas engine and by regenerative braking, which recovers the energy used when a car is stopping. Generally, that electric motor is in charge when the car is traveling short distances and needs less power—for example, when it’s coasting on the highway or in stop-and-go traffic. The gas engine performs the more energy-intensive driving tasks, including accelerating and powering up hills.

Plug-in hybrids, PHEVs, have—you guessed it—plugs. They have both electric motors and gas engines. PHEVs get some of their power through chargers and outlets, even the standard 120-volt wall plug found in most homes. Note, however, that many PHEVs on the market today can’t get charge from the public “fast chargers” increasingly installed along highways in the US, because they don’t come with the connector that would allow them to plug in. (Exceptions include specific models of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e.)

Plug-in hybrids have smaller batteries than their all-electric counterparts, only good for 20 to 50 miles of travel, compared to more than 200 in all-electric cars. Like BEVs, PHEVs get fewer battery-powered miles in the cold. Once the power in the battery runs out, PHEVs drive like hybrids and burn gas. As a result, the emissions output of PHEVs depends on how their owners operate them—whether they’re traveling distances mostly covered by the battery and whether they’re diligent about keeping them charged.

Right now, cars are generally more expensive the more they depend on a battery to go. Here’s a handy chart, using data from the automotive research company Edmunds:

In the US, both BEVs and PHEVs are eligible for federal and sometimes local tax credits. Specific makes and models of plug-ins, including the 2022 through 2024 model years Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid PHEV and the 2023 and 2024 Audi Q5 PHEV, are eligible for at least some tax credits from the US federal government, though the amount depends on where certain components of the car are made and how much it costs, and so are subject to change.

In Europe, France, Spain, and the UK all have subsidies for some kinds of hybrid buyers but have cut back on their programs as the vehicles have become more popular.

Check with your local authorities to see what applies—and whether they’ll help bring down the price.

That (☝️) pricing issue means that some car buyers shy away from battery-electric cars. BEVs also aren’t a great choice right now for those who regularly drive very long distances, or who don’t have access to a charger at home, or who only have one car for the household. A more robust public charging network is coming to the US, but while the country waits, those accustomed to the frequency of gas stations might hesitate before going all-electric.

This is where the plug-in hybrids come in. “They’re an opportunity to dip your toe into electrification,” says Kaufman, the Edmunds editor. The ideal plug-in hybrid driver has a shorter commute, in the 40-mile round-trip range. It’s also a great option for people who want to go electric but only have one car. “You can do any road trip you want,” says Kaufman. “It’s not like an EV, where you have to plan your route around charging stops.”

But to really take advantage of plug-in hybrids, drivers should have access to at-home charging. A home charger will give owners the highest likelihood of using mostly electric power while they’re traveling—and putting out fewer emissions.

Consumer Reports has found that, in general, plug-in hybrids are less expensive to fuel than their gas-powered or even hybrid counterparts. But the final tally depends on how a plug-in driver uses their car. If they never plug it in to charge it, they won’t get much bang for their buck. CR’s tests with one PHEV, a Hyundai Tucson, found that the vehicle gets lower gas mileage than its hybrid counterpart if it’s never charged, leading to an annual additional gas cost of $150 or more compared to the hybrid version.

One major complaint about electric vehicles is that they’re not holding their value as the years go by. (Tesla’s aggressive price cutting has not helped.) The vehicle research firm iSeeCars.com found last month that while used vehicle prices have fallen 3.6 percent since last year, used EV prices have fallen 31.8 percent.

The issue isn’t quite as pronounced with plug-in hybrids. iSeeCars.com finds that some of the most popular plug-in hybrids, including the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Prius Prime, hold nearly 70 percent of their value over five years. Still, in general, hybrids grouped together as a class are not holding value as much as traditional gas-powered vehicles—something to consider before you hit the dealership lot.

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