The Toyota Prius was the world’s original hybrid. First introduced in the 1990s, it boldly combined a petrol engine with an electric motor and small self-charging battery. It introduced us to the idea of a car that can switch into EV drive at slow speeds or when you lift off the accelerator.
Sure, critics pointed out, the actual EV driving range appeared minimal, but factor in how frequently the engine could shut down overall, and it was still able to deliver big improvements in fuel efficiency. The Toyota hybrid system kept on improving with each new generation, and Toyota later introduced a plug-in hybrid Prius, with a larger battery giving a much larger pure EV range.
