Already touched on here, but with electric vehicles the energy used in braking can be put back into the batteries.
The energy used to get a vehicle up a bank can be replaced by the energy used to slow it down on the other side. In the real world it’ll never be equal, but will make a big difference in overall efficiency. Just consider all that heat thrown out (wasted) by an engine climbing a hill and all that heat thrown out by brakes and retarder (wasted) on the descent. I’ll have a bet that what takes to the road first will be a hybrid, large batteries, regenerative braking, and an I.C. engine to give a boost to the batteries when needed. And with predictions about the route chosen maybe use the engine to top up the battery before a hill upwards, or allow the battery to get low if a descent is approaching.
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