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| Tesla Roadster |
Tesla is a 100% electric car company (which also makes stationary battery packs and solar panels), while most other carmakers adopted the conservative approach: "ok, we'll make an electric car, but it will still run on gas" wait, what?!
Hybrid electric cars use gas to generate electricity with an internal cumbustion engine. Electricity is directly fed into the electric motor or temporarily stored in a battery pack, which has at least 1kWh capacity. The end result is a 2x more efficient gas car, on which big oil can continue to make huge profits... and continue to pollute the environment.
Plugin hybrid electric cars are a bit more advanced and greener, as they have a larger battery (at least ~8kWh) and can be charged from the power grid and/or filled with gas, but their pure electric range is usually just tens of miles. When the battery is low, the ICE will start up automatically and continue to power the car for ~100 polluting miles.
100% electric cars have one large battery pack, which can be charged from any power outlet and charging station. The battery is used for all energy needs of the car and passangers, so when it's empty, you're stuck, BUT their range is usually at least 100 miles (with AC on), enough for 90% of car owners, as they don't drive more than that in one day.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars are also considered 100% electric and have ZERO emissions, like battery-electric cars, BUT unfortunately a lot of energy is wasted with the creation, storage and transport of Hydrogen gas. And did you know that Hydrogen has to be under pressure in your car and needs Oxygen from air to produce electricity? Yeah, it's more dangerous and harder to handle than gas. According to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, in the absolute best case, the Hydrogen fuel cell system is only 50% as efficient as pure electric systems, which are already mass-produced today (and suffer around 5% improvement each year).
There is one more type of hybrid car, which is obsolete at this point, but worth mentioning:
This design also uses an ICE to charge the battery, but it can also drive the wheels directly with both the internal combustion engine and electric motor.
Fortunately electric motors have evolved a lot in the past few years, and now even a relatively cheap electric motor can outperform an ICE under any circumstances (maybe except for very high speeds, above ~155mph). Today it makes a lot more sense to use the ICE just as a generator to charge the battery, or combine its power with the battery's, in order to drive the electric motor faster when needed.
Battery technology is also continuously improving. Tesla hopes to reduce 5 to 80% charge time to under 10 minutes for vehicles in just a few years. Right now it takes around 30 minutes to add 170 miles of range to your Tesla Model S/X at a Supercharger station, which is already quite acceptable for long distance travel.