I'm looking at toyota prius prime and I know what a hybrid is but do I actually need to plug in my hybrid for it to work? Does it have an alternator that can just power up the battery while I drive on the highway?
All hybrids have gas engines in addition to electric ones. That's what the word hybrid means. The only difference on the Prime is that it has bigger batteries for longer range, and it can be plugged in IF YOU WANT.
You're thinking of pure battery electric vehicles which MUST be plugged in to recharge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22rvOIFVQUI
Go to YouTube, there’s an abundance of info there.....
The Prius would function just like a regular car. You go to the gas station. You pump the gas. You drive.
The car takes care of everything else, generating electricity, using electricity, using gas, or using both.
The Prius Prime (plug in) gives you the option to plug in the Prius to the wall, to get a little more electric range, which effects overall gas mileage for the better. There is a premium to be paid for going Prime instead of plain Prius.
Honestly the premium doesn't seem worth it. And the 1k difference between the corolla hybrid and prius doesn't seem worth it. Prius seems like the best over all middle ground