Hybrid Automobiles
By hybrid automobiles we refer to any vehicle that relies on two separate power sources for propulsion. There are all sorts of alternative power sources among which we can count wind, natural gas in liquid or compressed form, rechargeable units, wood, coal and the like. The term hybrid car or vehicle is used most frequently to refer to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in which an internal combustion engine is combined with one or more electric motors.
As mentioned above, there are other hybrid vehicles beside the hybrid car we will mainly deal with here. Mopeds and electric bicycles make the most relevant of examples here. These are the rather basic forms of hybrid vehicles. They combine the power from an internal combustion engine or electric motor with the power of the rider’s muscles. The heavy hybrids cover the industrial or supply vehicles such as ships, hydraulic machines, buses, locomotives and so on. Normally, the term hybrid car-vehicle is used to refer to hybrid electric vehicles. This category includes the following types of automotives: AHS2 (Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Silverado, Cadillac Escalade, Saturn Vue), Toyota Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight and many others. A petroleum-electric hybrid car usually takes its power from an internal combustion engine (gasoline or diesel engine) and an electric battery.
The origins of the hybrid car are to be found in the early 1900s when David Arthurs created the first hybrid ever. Besides the hybrid car as mentioned above, which uses two or more different propulsion devices, there are also vehicles which use distinct sources of energy or input types but only one engine. These are also considered by some people to be similar to the hybrid car. Actually the latter should be more appropriately called dual mode vehicles (electric trolleybuses, dual mode buses, flexible-fuel vehicles, etc).
A hybrid car presents a number of advantages from the environmental perspective and there are two sides to consider here. First, there is the aspect of fuel economy, and secondly, the benefit for the environment and, implicitly, for humankind is undeniable in the fight to reduce pollution. These two advantages and benefits brought about by the hybrid car are tributary to at least three elements in the design: the combination of gasoline and the electric motors, a battery with plenty of storage capacity and the possibility to re-capture important amounts of energy, which are normally wasted while braking.
Get more info on hybrid cars visit Hybrid Car Comparison as well as Hybrid SUVs.
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 3:18 am and is filed under Auto Insurance News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.