In the market for an electric vehicle? Everything to know about options | Driving into the Future

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- This week, we're kicking off a new series called Driving into the Future.

Over the next year, we will explore what the future of driving holds, from options to advancements, to cost, servicing and more.

We will try and educate so you can have the information you need to make decisions about possible purchases and what's best for your driving future.

When it comes to electric vehicles, or EVs, the two most prevalent are what's called Battery EVs and Hybrid EVs, and they have distinct differences.

The electric vehicle revolution is well underway, and leading the way over the past few years has been plug-in electric vehicles. They are cars completely powered by electricity.

"It is completely reliant upon being charged and then driven and recharged, just like your cell phone," said Dan Reed from the Community College of Philadelphia.

Reed runs the Automotive Technology Program at CCP. He said EVs have a range that they can be driven -- some 100 miles and others upwards of 300.

"Some people may be able to do two, three days possibly, depending on the range of the vehicle without having to go for a recharge," he said.

But if those ranges scare you, hybrid electric vehicles may be a bridge to the new technology.

Hybrids have both a gas engine and an electric motor. The vehicle automatically switches between the two energy sources. When the gas engine runs, it charges the electric battery on board.

"Most hybrid vehicles will propel the vehicle up to about 20-30 miles per hour," said Reed. "After that point, if needed, it'll switch over to the gas engine."

A plug-in hybrid is another option on the market. It allows you to drive on electricity solely and then switch to a gas engine for power. A plug-in hybrid means the car needs to be plugged in to recharge its battery.

"When you want to go on your family trip and you want to go to the beach house, you have the gas engine there to back you up," said Mike Gempp, who is the director of the Philadelphia Auto Show.

In this rapidly evolving landscape, other technologies are in the works, including solar engines and hydrogen fuel cells.

Over the next 52 weeks, we'll go under the hood in our Driving into the Future series.