Although the technology varies from one hybrid model to another, most hybrid cars pair a conventional gasoline engine with an efficient electric motor that's powered by a battery. Patton built a tram car that was in experimental service in Pullman, Illinois in 1891 and a small Patton locomotive was sold to a street railway company in Cedar Falls, Iowa in 1897. The latter used a 2-cylinder, 25 hp gasoline engine to drive a 220-volt generator that served to charge the 200-Ampere hour 100-cell lea...