The Gasoline-Electric Hybrid Car
A regular car uses energy for starting from the battery. While driving a mixture of gas and air and a spark from the charging unit (generator) create a combustion within a chamber. The energy that is released is used to turn the wheels. Excess energy is generated which is used to charge the battery. The battery is fully charged in a relatively short period of time but excess energy continues to be generated. So a lot of energy is lost as heat (a car engine becomes very hot while driving).

Time Magazine (August 26,2002) published an article on a Toyoto gasoline-electric hybrid car, the Prius, which was introduced in 1997. The following report is an excerpt from that article.

Why waste it when you can use it?
The Toyoto Hybrid System (THS) uses a battery to store energy that is ordinarily wasted while driving or stopping, and then applies the stored energy to supplement engine power for starting and accelerating. The battery recharging cycle is entirely self-contained, so you don't have to plug anything in.

This electric support ensures that a Toyota hybrid's internal combustion engine always works within its most efficient range. Toyota's specially developed Atkinson cycle gasoline engines are optimized to raise efficiency still further.

Some Prius users proudly report they can drive for long periods without the gasoline engine turning on. Under certain conditions this is possible. When going down hill on a winding road where a car has to repeatedly slow down or stop, power regeneration can surpass consumption, allowing the Prius to drive as an electric car, generating electricity from gravity's pull alone.

Naturally, the Prius works best in urban stop-and-go driving situations. But owners are pleased with its agility on highways too. The Prius exceeds both California's stringent SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) and Euro4 emission standards.