Abstract: A serial hybrid drive has an internal combustion engine, a generator coupled mechanically to the internal combustion engine, an energy store coupled electrically to the generator, and at least one electric drive motor electrically connected to the generator and the energy store. The internal combustion engine/generator unit is operated along an operating characteristic whose power corresponds to the temporally smoothed power requirement of the electric drive motor, and the internal combustion engine is always operated at or near full load. In such case, the energy store has an energy storage capacity of at most a few kilowatt hours and a high power density, and compensates for the short-term power differences between the instantaneous power requirement of the electric drive motor and the power output by the internal combustion engine/generator unit and corresponding to the temporally smoothed power requirement of the electric drive motor.