Why Hybrid Cars?
Since Toyota launched the first hybrid car in its lineup- the Prius- there has been a lot of discussion on the pros and cons of hybrid cars. The hybrid car has two power sources- a petrol engine and an electric motor. There are two versions of hybrid cars, full and mild hybrid. A full hybrid, like the Toyota Prius, can operate in either electric or petrol only mode or a combination of both. The mild hybrid has an electric motor that assists the petrol engine.
In both types of hybrid cars, the petrol engine required to power the car is smaller. This makes the car more fuel efficient and it emits less emissions. After the success of the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic hybrid, Lexus the luxury division of Toyota launched their series of hybrid cars. Now other car manufacturers have joined the race in producing hybrid cars. The American car makers have only now decided to manufacture hybrid cars.
Nowadays, a modern hybrid car features a small fuel efficient petrol engine combined with an electric motor that provides assistance to the engine when accelerating. The electric motor is powered by a bank of batteries that constantly recharge as you drive. The electric motor is also used as a charger for the batteries when braking. This is called regenerative braking and I will explain a little more on this later.
There are two main types of electric - gasoline hybrid automobiles. One is the parallel hybrid and the other is the series hybrid. In a parallel hybrid car, a gasoline engine and an electric motor work in conjunction to move the car forward, whereas, in a series hybrid the gasoline engine either directly powers an electric motor that powers the vehicle or charges batteries that will power the motor. More parallel hybrids exist today than the latter.
The hybrid car technology is indispensable because of its remarkable features. The features like energy regeneration and automatic power shut off are some of the prominent feature, adopted by the hybrid cars to deal with the energy crisis.
When standing at a traffic junction the hybrid car does not idle and the electric motor is turned off. It’s when you cross a certain speed the petrol engine starts up and takes over. When a burst of power or extra power is required the electric motor kicks in. If you pull away from a traffic light and cross the speed limit where the petrol engine takes over, the fuel saving is going to be marginal. This is no fault of the hybrid; it’s the driver who is to be blamed.
Advanced aerodynamics is used to reduce drag in hybrid cars. That is why most hybrid cars available today have really swoopy lines. This does account for cramped cargo space but makes for attractive profiles. Hybrid cars also use Low rolling resistance tyres. These narrow, stiffer tyres have less drag but do trade off braking stability. As it is, most hybrids available are not built for extreme speeds.
With more hybrid cars being made, the price of hybrid cars is bound to reduce and they will compete with conventional car prices. For people who want an economical and environment friendly car the hybrid car will be a good option.
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