My fingers wrapped around the steering wheel as I adjusted the seat and the mirrors and settled back. Foot on the brake (which felt just as responsive as a brake on any other car), I reached over and pressed the power button. The dials in front of me stirred to life, but the car didn’t move – there was no thrum of an engine, no revving, nothing. I looked across at my passenger, as if to enquire whether I’d made a mistake, when the petrol engine kicked in, softly. This was the Aussie-built Hybrid Camry, a mid-sized car with the fuel economy of a compact, and I was ready to drive.