Hybrids and re-generative braking are not new to US consumers. In Europe, hybrids are just starting to be sold in significant numbers. While we have not had any significant safety problems with regenerative braking, some consumers might trade in their Prius if they knew when they hit pedal it was not doing anything mechanically.

That could have been the case with automaker Seat Germany’s “Brake Energy Recovery System”. The system collects energy usually lost when a car brakes, and then uses this energy when it accelerates again. But to illustrate the concept, the advertising agency ran a stunt in which taxi passengers saved money off their fare whenever the brakes were applied.

In the stunt, the system was connected to the meter of a Seat Alhambra taxi so every time the driver used the brakes the meter would run backwards. Cameras were hidden inside the car and random passengers were picked up around Dusseldorf to create this video.