i neglected to mention that depending on the design scope of the
vehicle, hybrids can be very powerful as electric motors have very
high torque from very tiny motors. that torque is also instantly
available from the word go. How much torque is unleashed is
dependent on how much u depress the accelerator, like a dimmer
switch for your light). if right from the start u step pedal to the
metal, then almost full torque's what u get, unlike a petrol car
where torque is very dependent of the engine's current rpms and
that band where torque is high can be fairly limited. There is
virtually no lag because an electric motor does not need to hit
high rpms to deliver high torque figures, and can deliever that
full or almost full torque from as low as 500+ rpms all the way and
still manage to rev to 12,000 rpms.
all of this can be clearly seen as evidenced by the Lexus
RX400H
it has a 3.3l V6 petrol engine and 2 electric motors.
the V6 engine manages 288Nm of torque, while the front motor
generates 333Nm of torque and the rear motor generates 130Nm of
torque. Together the electric motors generate a monsterous 463Nm of
torque. to put that into perspective, the 7th generation of
Evolutions 'only' did 393Nm with a turbocharged petrol
engine.
the very heavy RX400H, with a total curbweight of over 2500kg(2.5
tons) still manages to hit 0-100km/h in a respectable 7.6
seconds.