Some of the most important considerations while shortlisting a hybrid car are design, warranties, and emissions controls.
Design
Most hybrid cars are designed with advanced aerodynamics — the way the car travels and how the air affects the efficiency of that travel. For example, the Honda Insight (discontinued in 2006) was designed using the classical teardrop shape: The back of the car is narrower than the front. The rear wheels are partially covered by bodywork to provide a smoother shape, and some parts of the undercarriage of the car are enclosed with plastic panels. These tricks result in a very low drag coefficient of 0.25. A hybrid car also uses special tires that are both stiffer and inflated to a higher pressure than conventional tires. They result in about half the drag of regular tires.
Warranties
Hybrid car warranties vary from car to car and are usually split — the power train has one kind of coverage whereas the rest of the car has another. For instance, the Prius has an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on the battery and hybrid systems and a three-year/36,000-mile warranty on everything else. Watch out for battery replacement costs. If the battery is defective or you find yourself having to replace it for any reason, the cost is very high — usually $2,000 to $3,000 — although the warranty should protect you from this. Be sure to review the warranties of any car you’re considering to purchase.
Emission Control
Emissions are a major concern for consumers and the government these days. Many states put emission guidelines into place, meaning that automobiles need to drive cleaner than ever before. To help reach various goals of reducing pollution from emissions, the CDMV (California Department of Motor Vehicles) instituted two levels of emissions ratings. The CDMV rates vehicles as ULEV (ultra-low emission vehicle) or SULEV (super ultra-low emission vehicle). Vehicles can also have no rating if they don’t fall into either of these categories. Additionally, the federal emissions rating ILEV (inherently low emission vehicle) applies to cars that are electric-only.
ULEVs operate about 50 percent cleaner than the average gas-engine car. This means they produce about 50 percent less pollution from emissions. Hybrid cars are one way to reduce the amount of pollution produced from burning gasoline.
SULEVs produce only about 1 percent of the hydrocarbon emissions of gas-engine vehicles produced before the year 2000. They also incorporate alternate fuel, gas, electric, and other technology. Because of the credits offered toward Zero Emission Vehicle mandates in California (the higher standard AT-PZEV [Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle] rating) and certain northeastern states, Honda equips its hybrids in these markets with a zero evaporative emission fuel system and additionally warrants the emission control system for 150,000 miles, making them the cleanest-running category of vehicles outside of fuel cell and battery electric vehicles.
Hybrid cars are currently an option for reducing gas and pollution. In the future, hybrid cars may become more common. As gas prices continue to increase, interest in hybrid vehicles will become more and more widespread.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Hybrids Have Best Fuel Economy
The most fuel efficient 2008-model cars available to consumers are hybrids, according to new fuel economy numbers issued by the EPA. The Toyota Prius, with a combined highway/city mileage of 46, and the Civic Hybrid with combined mpg of 42, are the only vehicles to break the 40-mpg mark. The rest of the top five most efficient vehicles are also hybrids: the Nissan Altima Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, and two-wheel Ford Escape Hybrid, the only SUV at the top of the list.
The 2008 fuel economy figures for hybrids are about 20 percent lower than last year’s numbers, based on new testing procedures designed to better reflect real-world driving conditions, such as high-speed driving, use of air conditioning, and cold weather. Industry observers speculated that hybrids—commonly criticized for having exaggerated official mpg numbers used on window labels—would tumble when the new testing system took effect. Despite the adjustments, hybrid gas-electric vehicles remain as leaders in fuel efficiency.
The top ten highest ranked vehicles for mpg include three non-hybrids: the manual and automatic versions of the Toyota Yaris, a subcompact, and the manual Toyota Corolla.
According to the EPA, diesel-powered vehicles typically get 30–35% more miles per gallon than comparable vehicles powered by gasoline. Yet, the most efficient vehicle in the EPA ratings, the Mercedes E320 Bluetec, was rated at 23 in the city and 32 on the highway—well below the most efficient hybrids.
Automakers are working on number of advanced technologies—such as plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, and more efficient gas-engine systems—to produce major boosts in fuel economy. But the timing is uncertain for the application of those technologies in production vehicles available to consumers. In the meantime, it’s all about hybrids for car shoppers searching among 2008 models for maximum mpg.
The 2008 fuel economy figures for hybrids are about 20 percent lower than last year’s numbers, based on new testing procedures designed to better reflect real-world driving conditions, such as high-speed driving, use of air conditioning, and cold weather. Industry observers speculated that hybrids—commonly criticized for having exaggerated official mpg numbers used on window labels—would tumble when the new testing system took effect. Despite the adjustments, hybrid gas-electric vehicles remain as leaders in fuel efficiency.
The top ten highest ranked vehicles for mpg include three non-hybrids: the manual and automatic versions of the Toyota Yaris, a subcompact, and the manual Toyota Corolla.
According to the EPA, diesel-powered vehicles typically get 30–35% more miles per gallon than comparable vehicles powered by gasoline. Yet, the most efficient vehicle in the EPA ratings, the Mercedes E320 Bluetec, was rated at 23 in the city and 32 on the highway—well below the most efficient hybrids.
Automakers are working on number of advanced technologies—such as plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, and more efficient gas-engine systems—to produce major boosts in fuel economy. But the timing is uncertain for the application of those technologies in production vehicles available to consumers. In the meantime, it’s all about hybrids for car shoppers searching among 2008 models for maximum mpg.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Hybrid Car - Facts
Some Hybrid Car Facts
- Current hybrid cars can get up to 60 miles to the gallon on the highway. In the near future, hybrid cars are expected to get fuel mileage as high as 190 miles per gallon!
- Hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius produce 90% less pollutants than comparable non-hybrid cars. By putting less harmful chemicals in the environment, the harmful effects of pollution can be halted or even reversed.
- The United States government supports 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.
- Hybrid cars show much lower depreciation rates than standard gasoline cars. They are now and will continue to be in extremely high demand, so hybrid cars keep their values very well, making a hybrid car a sound investment.
- 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.
Hybrid Cars - An Introduction
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 many people who have heard a lot about hybrid cars but are still not sure what exactly is the fuss about. What I can assure you is that once you are through with this short article below, you won’t ask:
What the difference between a conventional car and a hybrid car??
Can a hybrid car match up to the performance of our conventional cars??
How do hybrid cars manage to achieve high fuel economy??
Are there any real benefits of using a hybrid car??
Let’s begin by finding what makes a hybrid car different from others.
A gas-powered car has a fuel tank, which supplies gasoline to the engine. The engine then turns a transmission, which turns the wheels.An electric car, on the other hand, has a set of batteries that provides electricity to an electric motor. The motor turns a transmission, and the transmission turns the wheels.
The gasoline-electric hybrid car is just what it sounds like -- a cross between a gasoline-powered car and an electric car. The hybrid is a compromise. It has the best of both the gasoline and the electric cars. It attempts to significantly increase the mileage and reduce the emissions of a gas-powered car while overcoming the shortcomings of an electric car.A gasoline car meets these requirements but produces a relatively large amount of pollution and generally gets poor gas mileage. An electric car, however, produces almost no pollution, but it can only go 50 to 100 miles (80 to 161 km) between charges. And the problem has been that the electric car is very slow and inconvenient to recharge.A gasoline-electric car combines these two setups into one system that leverages both gas power and electric power.
You can combine the two power sources found in a hybrid car in different ways. One way, known as a parallel hybrid, has a fuel tank that supplies gasoline to the engine and a set of batteries that supplies power to the electric motor. Both the engine and the electric motor can turn the transmission at the same time, and the transmission then turns the wheels. By contrast, in a series hybrid, the gasoline engine turns a generator, and the generator can either charge the batteries or power an electric motor that drives the transmission. Thus, the gasoline engine never directly powers the vehicle.The structure of a hybrid car harnesses two sources of power to increase efficiency and provide the kind of performance most of us are looking for in a vehicle.
Now let’s check out the performance aspect of a hybrid car.
The key to a hybrid car is that the gasoline engine can be much smaller than the one in a conventional car and therefore more efficient. Most cars require a relatively big engine to produce enough power to accelerate the car quickly. In a small engine, however, the efficiency can be improved by using smaller, lighter parts, by reducing the number of cylinders and by operating the engine closer to its maximum load.This explains why two of the same model cars with different engines can get different mileage. If both cars are driving along the freeway at the same speed, the one with the smaller engine uses less energy. Both engines have to output the same amount of power to drive the car, but the small engine uses less power to drive itself. But how can this smaller engine provide the power your car needs to keep up with the more powerful cars on the road?
The gas engine on a conventional car is sized for the peak power requirement (those few times when you floor the accelerator pedal). In fact, most drivers use the peak power of their engines less than one percent of the time. The hybrid car uses a much smaller engine, one that is sized closer to the average power requirement than to the peak power.
Its time to find the secret behind its high fuel economy.
Besides a smaller, more efficient engine, hybrids use many other tricks to increase fuel efficiency. To squeeze every last mile out of a gallon of gasoline, a hybrid car can:• Recover energy and store it in the battery: - Whenever you step on the brake pedal in your car, you are removing energy from the car. The faster a car is going, the more kinetic energy it has. The brakes of a car remove this energy and dissipate it in the form of heat. A hybrid car can capture some of this energy and store it in the battery to use later. It does this by using "regenerative braking." That is, instead of just using the brakes to stop the car, the electric motor that drives the hybrid can also slow the car. In this mode, the electric motor acts as a generator and charges the batteries while the car is slowing down.• Sometimes shut off the engine: - A hybrid car does not need to rely on the gasoline engine all of the time because it has an alternate power source -- the electric motor and batteries. So the hybrid car can sometimes turn off the gasoline engine, for example when the vehicle is stopped at a traffic light.
Finally let’s see if there are any benefits of a Hybrid Car.
You might wonder why anyone would build such a complicated machine when most people are perfectly happy with their gasoline-powered cars. The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions (which ensure cleaner air for all of us to breathe, slows down global warming and also gets you tax concession) and to improve mileage (which leads to more savings, less trips to gas station and longer drives at a stretch). And above all a hybrid car owner is looked up with much respect that his peers driving the conventional car can’t expect. These goals are actually tightly interwoven.
List of some famous hybrid cars:
Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid
Lexus GS 450h
Nissan Altima Hybrid
Saturn Aura Green Line
Saturn Vue Green line
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Toyota Prius
There are many people who have heard a lot about hybrid cars but are still not sure what exactly is the fuss about. What I can assure you is that once you are through with this short article below, you won’t ask:
What the difference between a conventional car and a hybrid car??
Can a hybrid car match up to the performance of our conventional cars??
How do hybrid cars manage to achieve high fuel economy??
Are there any real benefits of using a hybrid car??
Let’s begin by finding what makes a hybrid car different from others.
A gas-powered car has a fuel tank, which supplies gasoline to the engine. The engine then turns a transmission, which turns the wheels.An electric car, on the other hand, has a set of batteries that provides electricity to an electric motor. The motor turns a transmission, and the transmission turns the wheels.
The gasoline-electric hybrid car is just what it sounds like -- a cross between a gasoline-powered car and an electric car. The hybrid is a compromise. It has the best of both the gasoline and the electric cars. It attempts to significantly increase the mileage and reduce the emissions of a gas-powered car while overcoming the shortcomings of an electric car.A gasoline car meets these requirements but produces a relatively large amount of pollution and generally gets poor gas mileage. An electric car, however, produces almost no pollution, but it can only go 50 to 100 miles (80 to 161 km) between charges. And the problem has been that the electric car is very slow and inconvenient to recharge.A gasoline-electric car combines these two setups into one system that leverages both gas power and electric power.
You can combine the two power sources found in a hybrid car in different ways. One way, known as a parallel hybrid, has a fuel tank that supplies gasoline to the engine and a set of batteries that supplies power to the electric motor. Both the engine and the electric motor can turn the transmission at the same time, and the transmission then turns the wheels. By contrast, in a series hybrid, the gasoline engine turns a generator, and the generator can either charge the batteries or power an electric motor that drives the transmission. Thus, the gasoline engine never directly powers the vehicle.The structure of a hybrid car harnesses two sources of power to increase efficiency and provide the kind of performance most of us are looking for in a vehicle.
Now let’s check out the performance aspect of a hybrid car.
The key to a hybrid car is that the gasoline engine can be much smaller than the one in a conventional car and therefore more efficient. Most cars require a relatively big engine to produce enough power to accelerate the car quickly. In a small engine, however, the efficiency can be improved by using smaller, lighter parts, by reducing the number of cylinders and by operating the engine closer to its maximum load.This explains why two of the same model cars with different engines can get different mileage. If both cars are driving along the freeway at the same speed, the one with the smaller engine uses less energy. Both engines have to output the same amount of power to drive the car, but the small engine uses less power to drive itself. But how can this smaller engine provide the power your car needs to keep up with the more powerful cars on the road?
The gas engine on a conventional car is sized for the peak power requirement (those few times when you floor the accelerator pedal). In fact, most drivers use the peak power of their engines less than one percent of the time. The hybrid car uses a much smaller engine, one that is sized closer to the average power requirement than to the peak power.
Its time to find the secret behind its high fuel economy.
Besides a smaller, more efficient engine, hybrids use many other tricks to increase fuel efficiency. To squeeze every last mile out of a gallon of gasoline, a hybrid car can:• Recover energy and store it in the battery: - Whenever you step on the brake pedal in your car, you are removing energy from the car. The faster a car is going, the more kinetic energy it has. The brakes of a car remove this energy and dissipate it in the form of heat. A hybrid car can capture some of this energy and store it in the battery to use later. It does this by using "regenerative braking." That is, instead of just using the brakes to stop the car, the electric motor that drives the hybrid can also slow the car. In this mode, the electric motor acts as a generator and charges the batteries while the car is slowing down.• Sometimes shut off the engine: - A hybrid car does not need to rely on the gasoline engine all of the time because it has an alternate power source -- the electric motor and batteries. So the hybrid car can sometimes turn off the gasoline engine, for example when the vehicle is stopped at a traffic light.
Finally let’s see if there are any benefits of a Hybrid Car.
You might wonder why anyone would build such a complicated machine when most people are perfectly happy with their gasoline-powered cars. The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions (which ensure cleaner air for all of us to breathe, slows down global warming and also gets you tax concession) and to improve mileage (which leads to more savings, less trips to gas station and longer drives at a stretch). And above all a hybrid car owner is looked up with much respect that his peers driving the conventional car can’t expect. These goals are actually tightly interwoven.
List of some famous hybrid cars:
Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid
Lexus GS 450h
Nissan Altima Hybrid
Saturn Aura Green Line
Saturn Vue Green line
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Toyota Prius
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