In the Dallas area, we have a very strongly opinionated sportswriter whose mantra is:
"It's all about the quarterback!"
He means championship football teams have someone like Tom Brady, Manning, Leinart, etc....
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Back on-topic, it all comes back to how much gas was consumed. The ICE is still the primary source of propulsion in today's hybrids. The purpose of the hybrid component is:
- to allow the ICE engine to run more efficiently (i.e. not idle at intersections or slow traffic....)
- to recover wasted kinetic energy from the ICE
Regardless of the hybrid system, the ideal is having an ICE that wastes as little energy as possible, then capture the wasted energy.