What Are Hybrid Cars?

By Danny Green • January 19, 2010

After observing the excessive price hike on gas stations and the concerns of the car owners about the global warming and green house effect, the auto industry has invented the Hybrid Cars to tackle with these issues.

The engines of a hybrid cars runs by using two or more types of different energy sources. The most commonly used term for these hybrid cars is HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles). They use an internal combustion engines, and electric motors. Along with electric motors, there are many other energy sources that can be used such as hydrogen, compressed air, liquid nitrogen, wind, solar energy, and even coal, wood and other solid combustibles.

The first query that comes into the mind is that why we do not use electric car for eliminating the risks of pollution, and cutting down the expenses of gasoline. Why is there the need of hybridisation? There are some requirements that a car must meet to run on the national highway, which includes that they should run 300 hundred miles before refuelling, they have the ability to be refuelled easily, and maintain an average speed near to those of the other vehicles on the road.

Many benefits of an electric car are there, such that they do not cause any pollution, and they do not require any gasoline to run on. On the other hand, they do have some disadvantages such as their recharging is time-consuming; they move with a comparatively sluggish pace, and require a recharge after a maximum of 100 miles. However, gasoline engines meet all these requirements very easily, but they are very costly because of the expensive fuel, and it is a biggest contributor to the global warming.

Therefore, hybrid car is made, which has the positive factor of both types if engines. It reduces the shortcomings of an electric car by increasing the mileage, and reducing the emissions of the gas powered cars.

A hybrid car has a gasoline engine, which is smaller than ordinary cars, uses advanced technologies to reduce emissions and increase efficiency, a fuel tank, which is an energy storage device for the gasoline engine, a sophisticated electric motor, which can act as a motor (to draw energy from the batteries to accelerate the car), as well as a generator (to slow down vehicle and return energy to the batteries). Apart from that, HEVs include transmission and batteries which act as a storage device for the electric motor.

The engines of the hybrid car can be configured into two types; it can be either parallel, or in a series setting. The parallel hybrid works in a manner that both the engine, and the electric motor turns the transmission on at the same time. Gasoline is supplied to the engine by the fuel tank. At the same time, the power is supplied to the electric motor by the batteries, whereas, in the series engine, energy is not provided directly to the vehicle by the gasoline engine. It works by rotating the generator and the generator then either charges the batteries or energises the electric motor that drives the transmission.

The basic objective behind the invention of hybrid cars is to improve mileage, and to reduce the toxic emissions. All this has been successfully achieved with this car. Some countries have grams/mile limit, which has also been successfully met by these vehicles. This investment has proved to be very profitable, as it has reduced the gas expenses considerably.

Browse the Lexus range of Hybrid Cars and book a test drive online, visit the Lexus website for more information.