i've always thought that hybrids were better... running diesel and with regenerative brakes... here in #madeira a major problem with engines is that the use of compression braking (lowering the gears to use the engine to reduce speed) causes a lot of wear to the piston rings... well, for electric motors this is not as big a strain to capture the energy and put it back in the battery - to be sure, electric motors do eventually break because of the mechanical strain of the magnetic fields but it affects them generally instead of in specific, high friction elements of the device

the other thing about diesel hybrids is that they could be powered by seed oils, which is the only use of seed oils that i approve of, and doesn't require as much energy inputs, indeed most diesel sold now is over 10% refined seed oils which also happen to have lower sulphur, nitrate and phosphorus levels