The first difference is the fact you switch on the car with a power button which looks much like a large version of the button you use to turn on your laptop; there is no key or keycard in sight.

Secondly, hybrids are automatic so there’s no gear stick, instead there’s a dainty up and down lever on your dashboard which you use to switch the car between drive, reverse and parking mode.

Thirdly, there’s no clutch, you have two pedals, the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, both of which you operate with your right foot; the left foot of a hybrid takes a long deserved rest, it has no function at all.

And finally, in order to drive the car and move it forward once the engine is on, rather than gradually stepping on the accelerator as you’d do in a conventional petrol vehicle, you gradually release your foot from the brake pedal enabling the already charged up battery to propel the car forward. Essentially, the car is already ‘revved up’ and you release it to do its thing rather than command it to do its thing. The accelerators function is only to accelerate the car when you need more power. This final behaviour was the biggest difference for me as it went against twenty years of ingrained instinct and training; you are essentially asking your brain to swap the perceived function of the brake and accelerator pedal which takes a little time to absorb.