Electric Vehicle (EV)
Battery Electric Vehicles, also called BEVs, and more frequently called EVs, are fully-electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries and no internal-combustion engine. Battery electric vehicles store electricity on board with high-capacity battery packs.
Their battery power is used to run the electric motor and must be plugged in to a charging station or wall outlet to charge. Because EVs runs on electricity, the vehicle emits no exhaust fumes and has Zero CO2 emissions.
Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)
A hybrid vehicle has two power sources, these are a petrol engine and an electric motor. By switching between pure electric power at low speeds and efficient petrol power when speeds increase, Hybrids not only save you fuel and money, but they also reduce CO2 emissions.
HEVs are self-charging which means your battery is charging even when slowing down thanks to the regenerative braking system, which recovers energy that would normally be lost and stores it in the battery and because they are all self-charging hybrids, their batteries never need to be plugged in.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles or PHEVs can recharge the battery through both regenerative braking and "Plugging in" to an external source of power.
A plug-in hybrid gets all the benefits of being a hybrid but also has a charge point so you can extend the range of your car by plugging in at home or at one of the nation’s electric charge points.