Introduction to Hybrid Cars

The automotive industry has been constantly coming up with great innovations since the very first car was built.  With every new line of cars there have always been new ideas and innovations introduced to help improve the vehicles and make them safer and more efficient.

The most recent innovation is the introduction of the hybrid car.  The hybrid car has been designed to use multiple forms of energy, not just gasoline or diesel. 

Hybrid car Defined

A Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) utilises the power of both a gas engine and an electric motor.  These dual engine vehicles systems can be configured to serve multiple purposes such as improving the vehicle’s fuel efficiency and even to help increasing the car's performance.

An HEV does typically include a battery, a generator, an electric motor, an internal combustion engine (found in most cars on the road) and a power split device.  All these components help the car run on either gas power, electric power or both.

Five Misconceptions About Hybrid Cars

There are a number of misconceptions out there about hybrid cars, which can sway a person to not even consider a Hybrid car for their next car purchase.  It is therefore best to differentiate the facts from these myths so that you can get a better understanding on what a hybrid car really is.

Myth 1 – Hybrid Cars Must Be Plugged Into A Power Outlet To Charge

Fact - When the hybrid car was first introduced, many thought that due to vehicle using electricity to help power the electric motor that it must need to be plugged into an electrical source in order to be charged.  This however is incorrect as the hybrid vehicles do actually utilize advanced technologies that help recycle energy generated into electricity.  This eliminates the need to be charged in a power outlet.  There are however new electric-only vehicles hitting the market, which do need to be plugged in, but they only use an electric motor and are NOT hybrid vehicles.

Myth 2 – Hybrid Cars Are A New Technology

Fact - The first hybrid car idea does actually date back a few centuries ago when inventors were to find a way to power a vehicle.  Hybrid cars however have only been mass produce in the last decade.

Myth 3 – Hybrid Car Batteries Need To Be Replaced Frequently

Fact - A typical hybrid vehicle’s battery will usually last between 150,000 to 200,000 miles and often more, which is much longer than a conventional car’s typical battery.

Myth 4- Hybrid Cars Don’t Have Much Power

Fact - Hybrid vehicles to actually have a distinct advantage over conventional vehicles since they can utilize two sources of power to help accelerate the car as opposed to a single source found in a conventional vehicle.

Myth 5 - Hybrids Cost Too Much

Fact – Hybrid cars do save on gasoline in the long run, however hybrid vehicles are actually coming down in price as the technology matures and due to their popularity growing.  This means hybrid cars will continue to go down in price as they become more popular and are mass produced.

Myth 6 - People Only Buy hybrid Cars To Save Money On Gas.

Hybrid cars do top the list of the most fuel efficient vehicles on the road.  You can get more miles per gallon, reducing the total cost of ownership of the car at the pump.  Car buyers do however often overlook the gas savings, as critics of hybrid technology frequently point out, those savings seldom add up to the extra cost of buying a hybrid over a comparable conventional vehicle.

So if buyers are not out there to save money, why are more people buying hybrid cars? Some of the main reasons include to help reduce their impact on the environment, to help reduce the world's addiction to crude oil, and to earn technology bragging rights.

Myth 7 - Hybrid Technology Is Only A Fad

Hybrid technology is often compared to diesel engines, fuel cells, pure electric cars and/or hydrogen cars.  

Hybrid technologies do actually provide automotive engineers with the ability to combine systems and fuels in a single hybrid vehicle, giving it great flexibility in finding the greatest efficiencies at the lowest cost.

Myth 8 - Hybrid Cars Are Identical To Electric Cars

Fact - This is totally untrue because hybrid vehicles are actually fuel-powered for the most part. They do utilize a technology called “battery assists”, which basically assist the fuel powered engine with a nickel-metal hydride battery pack that is rechargeable.

Myth 9 – Hybrid Cars Guarantee To Save You Money

Fact - If your driving consists of mainly city driving, then there is a possibility that you will save gas.  The same applies with highway driving.  There are too many different factors and variables that need to be considered to determine if you will actually save money.  It has been stated that if everyone bought hybrid vehicles, the gas consumption would decrease by only 10%, which isn’t a huge difference.

Myth 10 - The Rechargeable Battery In Hybrid Cars Only Last 2 Years

Fact – If this was correct, a hybrid car would not be worth purchasing.  In fact, the rechargeable batteries usually come with an eight to ten year warranty.

Myth 11 – You Can Keep Driving Your Hybrid Car If You Run Out Of Gas

Fact – You should remember that a hybrid car's battery is used to power the electric motor that acts as to assist only.  This means that hybrid cars still need gas to run.  If you do run out of gas, the battery may well keep the car running for just a little while only.  But, the car will stop very soon.

Myth 12 - Hybrid Vehicles Will Soon Put Conventional Car Sellers Out Of Business

Fact - This is not likely to occur anytime soon.  The reason for the delay has to do with the hefty price tag on a hybrid vehicle.  Many people simply cannot afford one.  Also, people are still convinced that they will actually save money on a hybrid vehicle.  As a result, they are slow to join the rush of people who want a hybrid car.

How Hybrid Cars Work

An internal combustion engine such as the ones found in conventional vehicles is fuelled by a hybrid electric generator, acting as the starter used when the car is switched on. Once the engine has warmed up, it automatically powers off and lets the electric motor takes over.

The hybrid vehicle comes equipped with a computer that is responsible for determining how much power is required from the engine and how much will be used from the electric engine, depending on how fast the car is going.  The computers sends information to the a gearbox known as the power split device, which uses a series of intricate gears that connect both the gas and electric engines/motors together.

The electric motor of the hybrid vehicle draws its power from a set of nickel hydride batteries.

Technology Found In Hybrid Cars

Hybrid cars have implemented some excellent new technologies, not previously seen in the automotive industry.  Most of these advances are strictly beneficial to hybrid cars, ensuring that they do operate correctly and safely.

The automatic start-up and power-off is a feature that automatically powers off the engine when the car has come to a stop, then restarting the engine when the accelerator is pressed. This helps save gas and energy when the car is sitting idle by resting the engine.

The hybrid vehicle's electric motor can gives the car added power needed when accelerating, overtaking, or climbing hills, which is also known as electric motor drive. With this extra assistance, smaller and more fuel efficient engines can be used in such vehicles.

Hybrid cars do also use regenerative braking, which recycles energy when the car’s brakes are applied.  The electric motor is designed to exert resistance to the car's drive train, which then causes its wheels to slow down.  Energy from the wheels is then used to fuel the electric motor, which acts as a generator, converting the energy that would otherwise be wasted while braking into electricity that is stored in the battery until required.