How does a hybrid car work?

Question

Do they need to be plugged in or charged or do they just get better gas mileage than other cars?

Answer 1

Some of the cars like the Toyota Prius take regular gasoline, but they use much less of it because they have a cell of internal batteries that charges via the braking system, thus converting the friction of braking into available energy.

The first hybrid cars were pretty much like electric golf carts, meaning they just plug in and run off of a battery instead of gas, but that is in no way near the operation of todays hybrids.

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Answer 2

The current design of hybrids uses a gasoline engine in tandem with an electric motor. The electric motor supplies the power during slow speeds and works with the gas engine when full power is needed. The gas engine and the braking system both recharge the battery pack that supplies power to the electric motor. These cars do not require plugging in or external recharging. However manufacturers are planning on releasing models of hybrids which can be manually recharged which will boost the mileage by increasing the distances the electric motor will power the car.