Hybrid Vehicles Solar Power Energy Generation Guide
Hybrid Vehicles With Quiet Electric Motors
By James J Dixon
With the increase in fuel prices, the threat of global
warming and the burning of fossil fuels to drive cars
with high emissions, are problems for many people. The
solution to these problems, is to drive fuel efficient
cars with reduced emissions. The auto industry is now
selling more fuel efficient cars with a dramatic increase
in the sales of hybrid vehicles.
A hybrid motor car has an internal combustion engine
and an electric motor. There are a number of hybrid
vehicles on our roads these days, but two of the more
popular models are the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.
Hybrids Are More Fuel Efficient With Reduced Emissions
One of the better reasons to review your options and
choose a hybrid vehicle is better fuel efficiency. For
example a minivan like the Ford Freestar, gets 16 miles
per gallon in the city, and around 22 miles per gallon
on the freeway. While a fuel-efficient subcompact, such
as Honda Fit, gets around the city with 27 miles per
gallon, while it travels on the freeway with 34 miles
per gallon.
Now these figures sound pretty good, especially the
figures for the Honda Fit. But the hybrid can take fuel
efficiency to another level. The Toyota Prius, the most
popular hybrid vehicle on the market today, gets 48
miles in the city and 45 miles on highways. Using the
same volume of fuel, the hybrid travels almost triple
the distance of the mini van.
Runs Around Busy City Streets More Efficiently
Looking at the fuel efficiency figures for the Toyota
Prius, you may have noticed it runs more efficiently
in the city than on the freeway. All hybrid vehicles
share this characteristic. Conventional cars burn gasoline
while stationary at the red lights, but modern hybrids
use a start-stop system.
The hybrid internal combustion engine automatically
shuts off when the vehicle is stationary, to save gas.
When the car needs to move again, the engine starts
again. This start-stop system can save up to 5-10%
fuel.
Regenerative Braking Helps To Recharge The Car Battery
Another key aspect of hybrids is the use of regenerative
braking, to stop a moving vehicle. Applying the brakes
in a conventional car, causes the kinetic energy of
the car to bleed as heat. In a hybrid, the braking system
reuses this kinetic energy to charge the car battery.
The internal combustion engine is also used to charge
the car battery, which then runs the electric motor
in the car. This helps to increase the total efficiency
of the vehicle.
A Smaller Combustion Engine With Reduced Emissions
As the internal combustion engine is not often used
to drive the car, it is often a smaller engine than
the engine for pure gasoline vehicles. Consequently,
the internal combustion of a hybrid vehicle functions
with reduced emissions.
If you take a hybrid vehicle for a drive, you will
notice there is no discernible noise due to the presence
of an electric motor. This is one of the more appealing
aspects of hybrid vehicles, they are extremely quiet.
But, if you need to achieve high speeds, the internal
combustion engine is required to help the electric motor,
with the result of a slightly higher noise.
Easy To Maintain And Fun To Drive
Buying a hybrid will not burn a hole in your pocket,
as they usually sell for between $18,000 and $28,000.
They are easy to maintain, fun to drive, and even cheaper
to run!
If you are in the market for a new motor vehicle and
you want to cut emissions, use less fuel to run your
car, then before you make a final purchasing decision,
you should consider testing hybrid vehicles.
About the Author:
James J Dixon has written a number of articles on hybrid cars, all electric cars, recycling
and renewable resources including
Electric Car Batteries,
Electric Vehicles,
Hybrid Car,
Waste Water,
Disposal Of Plastics.
Look out for new articles as they become available on
this site.
Little Known Electric Car Facts.....
How does an electric car affect the environment?
The first thing that needs to be
addressed is that electric cars, depending on how the
fuel cells are created, are not entirely environmentally
friendly. Yes, they do not use gasoline and do not give
off any emissions but some models do have power grids
that use coal.
There are models of power grids
that are being developed that do away with the use of
coal. Even with using coal for the power grids, electric
cars are a vast, vast improvement over gasoline vehicles
and as a result are much better for the
environment.
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