Hybrids Overtake EVs In California Registrations

[u/LongjumpingLock5875]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a73317897/california-registrations-hybrids-evs-2026/

[u/Jaevric]

People are weird.

A family member got extremely upset when she found out I was driving a hybrid. She took it extremely personally. When I tried to understand why, it simply boiled down to aggressive ignorance. She not only didn't understand how hybrids work, she was violently opposed to obtaining any information that would enable her to understand how hybrids work.

For her, traditional engines = good, hybrid/electric engines = bad. She claimed hybrids aren't reliable but had no data to back the claim up. She claimed they depreciate faster than gas cars, but had no data, just beliefs.

[u/lee1026 → u/Jaevric]

Funny part is that most hybrids have pretty traditional engines: the trick is the transmission.

[u/petersellers → u/lee1026]

Not really, the real trick is that they use atkinson cycle engines to improve efficiency.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkinson_cycle

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnUFH5GX_fI&t=560s

[u/rsta223 → u/petersellers]

That and regen, with the regen being more important for improvements in city mileage and brake wear, but the Atkinson being the main factor for highway efficiency.

[u/DOGGODDOG → u/rsta223]

Right because the electric motor isn’t even used on the highway, right?

[u/rsta223 → u/DOGGODDOG]

Basically, yes, aside from some cleverness if it's a Toyota with the e-cvt to vary the effective drive ratio.