8 cool things cars of the future will do

You might expect hybrid cars to fade away as we move toward electric vehicles. But with more fuel economy demands, you'll like see new hybrids hit the market in the years to come.

Many of these cars will be "mild hybrids," which don't boost efficiency as much as regular hybrids but cost less, thanks to smaller, less powerful batteries.

The batteries and electric motors in mild hybrids aren't strong enough to move the weight of the car on their own but they provide some boost to the engine, allowing it to work efficiently and save fuel. As with other hybrids, batteries are charged from the gas engine directly or by recovering energy during braking.

The 2018 Jeep Wrangler will be available with a mild hybrid system like this.

On the other end of the spectrum, we'll likely see more plug-in hybrids such as the Toyota Prius Prime. These cars use powerful batteries that can be charged from an external source and typically run on only electricity for a considerable distance.