2016 got off to a great start with some good news on cars and the environment. In January, sales of hybrid vehicles in Italy marked a significant new record of 2.1 per cent, while the average share of hybrid powertrains in Italy in 2015 stood at 1.6 per cent. Reduced air emissions and environmental protection, fuel savings thanks to the electric component of the engine, driving comfort (less noise and vibration), privileged access to restricted traffic zones and reduced-rate parking in many cities across the country are the many advantages drawing Italians increasingly towards the choice of a hybrid car.

Dominating the market are the Toyota and Lexus brands, which account for 96 per cent of total sales — credit in part to the new RAV4 Hybrid launched by the Japanese manufacturer. With a refreshed look and hybrid technology, the first units were delivered last month and the compact SUV has already reached a 13.6 per cent share in its segment and 54.3 per cent of registrations in January. To give a few more figures: 25,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles were sold last year, and 85,000 from 2000 to date. Toyota is also a leader at the international level, with 8.5 million hybrid vehicles sold worldwide. And the Three Ovals brand has no intention of stopping there: its stated goal is to reduce the average CO2 emissions of new models by more than 22 per cent by 2020, and to reduce the average carbon dioxide emissions by 90 per cent by 2050 compared to the 2010 average, also eliminating CO2 emissions arising from the vehicle's life cycle and creating zero-emission production facilities.

Hybrid technology is therefore revolutionising, and will continue to revolutionise, the world of cars and the way we drive. It is no coincidence that, according to research by Found! (a public relations and digital agency), hybrid technology applied to cars ranks among the ten innovations of the Third Millennium (at least of the first fifteen years) that have changed the world. To select them all, 50 international publications covering technology, science and current affairs were monitored, and 60 experts in sociology and applied science were consulted. The value of an innovation was also measured according to the benefits it has brought to the world's population: the simplification of everyday actions, the improvement of communications between people in different parts of the world, the resolution of general problems with savings in time, resources and energy. And so, alongside social networks, smartphones, lasers used in the medical and artistic fields, USB, GPS, 3D printing, Wikipedia, we also find hybrid cars (followed by the iPod and human genome mapping). And as with everything else, in the future we will no longer be able to do without them.