Hybrid Cars And Their Wide Appeal

You have heard about them, possibly have seen their commercials but do you really understand how the hybrid car works and what its value is?
Hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular to a variety of people for a variety of reasons. The ecologically conscious can appreciate the ultra low emissions and amazing fuel economy, while the economically conscious can appreciate the low depreciation and great savings at the pump.

Here are some quick facts about the Hybrid Car:

• Lower fuel emissions help to curb the infamous "Greenhouse Effect."
• Hybrid cars are in high demand, and because of this, they hold their value much better than most gasoline automobiles.
• Burning fossil fuel releases potentially harmful pollutants, but reducing the amount of fuel that needs to be burned may allow the environment to dispose of these pollutants by natural means.
• Hybrid cars offer huge savings at the pump. Switching from the average sedan to the average hybrid could save the driver over 500 dollars a year!
• Hybrid car technology has been accepted as a solution for the automobile pollution problems of the day.
• The United States government has supported hybrid car ownership by allowing a tax write off. In 2005, this rebate may be as high as $5000!
• While it is true that hybrid cars do have expensive parts, they also have warranties that provide free replacement of the most expensive parts for many years.
• Though hybrid cars have not been on the US market for very long, they have been sold in Japan since 1997. Some consumers worry that hybrid cars may not last as long as other cars, but it is not abnormal for a hybrid car to run like new when it has 250,000 miles on it. The best part - hybrid cars don't require any more maintenance than gasoline cars.
• Hybrid cars aren't a fad. Nearly every major automobile manufacturer has announced either the launch of a hybrid car or plans for a launch. A large part of this is due to the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulation, by which an automaker must maintain a minimum mileage of 27.5mpg across its product line. By investing in hybrid technology, they can offer faster, larger engines in the rest of their line.


How does the hybrid car work? A hybrid car is a passenger vehicle that is driven by a hybrid engine, which is any engine that combines two or more sources of power, generally gasoline and electricity. There are two types of gasoline-electric hybrid cars; the parallel hybrid, and the series hybrid. Both use gasoline-electric hybrid technology, but in radically different ways.

In a parallel hybrid car, a gasoline engine and an electric motor work together to move the car forward, while 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. Both types of hybrids also use a process called regenerative braking to store the kinetic energy generated by brake use in the batteries, which will in turn power the electric motor.

Both parallel and series hybrids have small gasoline engines, and produce much less pollution than standard gasoline cars, but also produce much less power - hybrids generally produce between 60-90 horsepower, while the average gasoline engine probably produces about double that. To overcome this power gap, hybrid cars are constructed with ultra lightweight materials like carbon fiber or aluminum. Hybrid cars are also designed to be more aerodynamic than most cars, allowing them to "slice" through air instead of pushing it out of the way.

All these factors combined equate to a super efficient form of car that gets excellent fuel economy and helps the environment by cutting down on pollution. What are you waiting for?



About the Author
Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.