Some Facts And Figures About Hybrid Cars

Hybrid cars have been a hot topic of discussion at many forums lately

. There are various pros and cons associated with hybrid cars. Hybrid cars have now been on the roads for a while. In fact, it's been eight years since Toyota launched its Prius. The Toyota Prius has been the first full hybrid family hatchback and has been remarkably successful. Many politicians and celebrities drive the Toyota Prius. Whether they are driving hybrid cars to show they are trying to do their bit to make the planet greener is another matter.

Hybrid cars are basically half battery-electric and half conventional cars. The hybrid vehicles use temporary energy storage device, usually a battery, which enables the main engine to operate at close to its maximum efficiency. They have two motors to power the vehicle. One is an electric generator which is powered by a large battery pack and the other is a gas engine which is powered by gasoline. The gasoline engine is usually smaller than average car ones which allows the electric generator to make up for the energy.

Toyota and others are dealing with the economic recession by laying-off their workers, and high salary cuts. In spite of this, Toyota Motors is launching its first European manufactured hybrid car, the Auris hybrid, from August 2010. Australian market is also a rapidly growing hybrid car market. Toyota Motors will be producing the first Australian built hybrid car "Hybrid Camry" very soon.

In mild hybrid cars, like the Honda cars, both the electric motor and petrol engine provide power to the car simultaneously. The petrol engine and regenerative braking charge the batteries. Mild hybrid cars cannot run on one power source only. So if the car runs out of fuel, the electric motor will not help in getting the car to a fuel pump station.

Hybrid cars require regular service and maintenance as conventional cars do. The batteries of a hybrid car are very expensive but the pack comes in the form of 36 modules. You do not have to replace all batteries if any one of them stops working; only replace the one that is not working. This way, repair of a hybrid car is not very expensive.

There are certain myths associated with hybrid cars which are basically incorrect. The first concern is about hybrid cars safety. People think that because hybrid cars are made from lighter body parts, in case of an accident the passengers are at greater risk. Secondly, they think that in case of a crash, passengers can be exposed to electric shock from the high voltage electrical system. The Toyota Prius has scored a five star safety rating in NCAP Euro tests. The same is the case for the Lexus hybrid cars. Therefore this myth is baseless.

In the United States, hybrid car owners are given a tax break of about $2000-$3000. This is an advantage for people who are paying heavy taxes in these difficult times. The record sales of hybrid cars started with the onset of the year 2004. In the year 2000, only 9500 vehicles were sold in the US. This number increased ten folds in the year 2004, and a total number of 88000 hybrid vehicles were sold out. The sales recorded in the year 2006 crossed 254,545, and it has remained on a rise since then.

The European hybrid car market is slowly accepting hybrid cars as a main stream vehicle. Toyota leads the hybrid car market followed by Honda. In the year 2006, a total of 39,880 hybrid cars were sold across Europe. There are some people who believe that hybrid cars are not as good as portrayed in the advertisements, but the growing market share of hybrid cars confirms the opposite.

by: Danny Green

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