What is a Hybrid Car?

Hybrid cars are so called because they run on a combination of two different power sources. The first is a normal but usually highly fuel efficient gas engine designed to get the maximum amount of power and mileage from the minimum amount of fuel. This is usually also designed to minimize the exhaust gas and carbon emissions. The second is a high power electric motor, which is run by batteries stored in the car.

Many trains are hybrid vehicles as they draw power from the main grid where it is practical and economically feasible to use overhead power lines. But they have the option of using diesel power when this is not available or if there is a problem with the power supply.

The new innovations and advances in technology have enabled a new generation of hybrid cars to make use of this idea to both reduce fuel costs and to enable drivers 6to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by their cars.

This combination of two fuel sources allows hybrid cars to run on the “normal� engine when high or sustained levels of power are required such as fast country roads or highways. This is also when a gas engine is at its most efficient and will therefore provide the best fuel economy, and the lowest level of emissions.

Although the gas engine in hybrid cars can provide huge amounts of power for fast acceleration this is not an effective use of its capabilities. Gas engines use disproportionately large amounts of fuel and produce huge amounts of emissions when driven hard for acceleration. However the gas engine is still the main power source for hybrid cars. However for cruising along the highway hybrid cars use a gas engine which be very efficient, use minimal fuel and produce low levels of gases. The lack of need for alteration of speed or power means that you can ease off on the gas until a comfortable cruising speed has been achieved and you are using only they amount of fuel needed to maintain the equilibrium.

The electric motor used in hybrid cars is, by contrast, very flexible and is very much better at handling the power surge that is required for acceleration although for rapid acceleration the gas engine will 2 kick in“. The electric motor on hybrid cars is also very good for low level town and urban driving. When stationary the electric motor is effectively shut down, it does not need to “tick over� like a traditional gas engine. So when waiting in traffic jams or at lights you are not using any fuel or wearing out your engine.

The electric motor should provide all the power that is needed for most town driving in hybrid cars, but will automatically switch over to the gas engine when more power is required, often around the 40mph mark. Then when the power need are less, for example when you pull off the freeway and back to an urban cycle again the gas engine will shut down and the electric motor will, seamlessly, take over again.

The batteries on hybrid cars do not need to be charged form a mains electric source, but are constantly kept topped up by the on board generators powered by the engine. The batteries are also kept “topped up� by the braking action of the car. Normally when a car brakes the energy from the motion of the car is lost and the car needs a fresh supply of power or gas to push it back up to speed it was at before braking. Hybrid cars with their electric motors have the ability to recover and re-use this power, cutting, even further, the need for more fuel.

The electric motor on Hybrid cars when going backwards or reversed will, instead of using electricity, will act as a generator and create electricity. So when the car is braking, in addition to the normal brakes, the electric motor is used as a brake. This turns the motor backwards and generates electricity, which is then stored in the batteries for later use. So you can effectively use the same power twice.

Because of all these factors hybrid cars are highly fuel-efficient and produce very little emissions compared to a standard car. Because of this and the rising cost of fuel and the need to curtail the massive amounts of greenhouse gases being pumped into the environment, hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular. And with the new tax breaks for hybrid cars and more models becoming available this trend looks set to continue.

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Larry Westfall is the owner of www.Asian-Daily.com
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