A hybrid car is a car that can be powered by gasoline or electricity or both at the same time.
The idea of hybrid vehicles is not new. In the mid 1600s, a Jesuit priest worked on plans for a carriage that could either be pulled by a horse or run by steam.
More recently, an American named Piper invented a system in 1905 in which an electric motor could be used to increase the power of a gasoline engine. About the same time, hybrid vehicles were developed, built, and used commercially in England, France, Belgium, and Germany.
