So did Toyota invent the hybrid? And what exactly is a "Prius"?

Big credit to Toyota if you think they invented the hybrid; that certainly is evidence of the sheer dominance of the Prius marketing machine. Believe it or not, battery powered-hybrids were around during the turn of the last century. To Toyota's credit, the Prius did enter the market in 1997 as the world's first mass-produced hybrid. A Prius is a mythical beast that slayed earth-polluting, smoke-breathing dragons in 17th century. Or…Prius is Latin for "to go before", as in to go to market before everyone else with this idea of a mass-produced hybrid; I can't remember which.

Photo Courtesy of: Toyota