subject: What are Hybrid Cars? [print this page] What are Hybrid Cars? What are Hybrid Cars?
A hybrid car is one which uses two or more different power sources in order to move. The most common type of hybrid car is known as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and uses a combination of the traditional internal combustion engine together with one or more electric motors. Car manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Ford and Lexus now offer a range of HEVs to choose from, but you may be wondering why anyone should bother with a Hybrid car at all.
Fuel Economy
Many features of Hybrid electric vehicles allow you to save money on fuel costs. For example, a technology known as regenerative braking takes energy that is normally wasted as heat during braking and converts this energy into electricity to recharge the car's internal batteries. HEVs are also much more fuel-efficient in slow moving traffic. Of course, one of the biggest reasons that Hybrid cars are cheaper to run is that the workload is divided between the electric motors and the combustion engine which means a smaller capacity engine can be used, leading to further savings on fuel.
The Green View
Naturally, lower fuel consumption leads to lower carbon emissions. As a general rule, Hybrid cars are much more ecologically friendly than their petroleum guzzling counterparts, and in general the emissions of Hybrid cars are now at or below the level set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Less reliance on gasoline also helps towards reducing our dependence on oil, currently becoming harder and harder to get a hold of. As more and more countries around the world attempt to find greener ways of producing electricity such as Wind, Water and Solar power, the Hybrid car will become even more appealing from an ecological standpoint as the electricity used to power its motors will be green too. Although previously the Hybrid car battery itself was an area of concern, newer HEVs are built to use Lithium-ion batteries, which are better for the environment.
In summary, Hybrid cars can prove to be not only beneficial to your wallet, but to the Earth as well. Driving a Hybrid car means you can have a clean conscience as the world becomes ever more carbon crazy. Whether you buy one for economical or ecological reasons, the Hybrid car is certainly becoming a more appealing choice by the day.
