The two technologies can be combined to reduce fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions. A hybrid engine also operates more efficiently and produces less pollution than does combustion alone. With good design, hybrids can reduce smog pollution by 90 percent or more compared with the cleanest conventional vehicles on the road today. The Toyota Prius, for example, achieves a 90 percent reduction in smog-forming pollutants over the current national average. The cleanest hybrid will produce several times more pollution than a battery-electric vehicle.
Hybrids consume significantly less fuel than vehicles powered by gasoline alone.
The first hybrids on the market will cut emissions of global-warming pollutants by a third to a half. Later models may cut global-warming emissions by even more. Hybrids should be competitively priced when all the costs over the life of the vehicle are included. This is because any cost premium is likely to be offset by fuel savings. Performance and range.