They have battery packs and electric motors, like full-time electric cars – but they don't rely on them exclusively for propulsion, as a full-time electric car does. They aren't dependent entirely on electricity as their fuel.

Which is why they are the only electric cars that make practical – as well as economic – sense.

Which probably explains why they're being shunted aside in favor of full-time electric cars (punchline at the end of this rant).

The combustion engine a part-time hybrid carries provides much of the motive force for propulsion; it also provides fuel-on-the-go for the electric side of the drivetrain – converting gas (via combustion) into electricity to continuously recharge the battery pack as the vehicle is driven.

What a snappy idea!

It eliminates the range problem that the pure electric car has. You can drive the part-time electric car pretty much anywhere without obsessing about the battery's state of charge. And how far you can go – before it stops.

So long as the tank has gas, you're good to go. . . right now.

Which brings us to the other problem the part-time electric car hasn't got – the recharge problem.