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Home
> Frequently Asked Questions About Hybrid Cars
What
are the advantages of electric cars over hybrid automobiles?
What
are the disadvantages of electric cars?
What are the
advantages of hybrid cars over conventional cars?
How much money
can I save on fuel costs by buying a hybrid automobile?
How do the hybrid car models compare?
What
other fuel sources may be used in the future?
What 2005 hybrids were released?
What SUV hybrids are coming out?
What is the
history of hybrid automobiles?
What is the history of hybrid automobiles?
How does a hybrid automobile work?
What are some economic pros of hybrid cars?
What are the environmental pros of hybrid cars?
What are some of the other alternative fuel vehicles?
How can I learn more about hybrid vehicles?
What
are the advantages of electric cars over hybrid automobiles?
Electric cars are 100% emission-free, having no polluting
byproducts, therefore they are cleaner than hybrid automobiles.
They secure their power from batteries, the sun or hydrogen
fuel cells. Battery-powered electric cars, besides being cleaner,
are more fuel-efficient, get better mileage and have less
moving parts to wear out. Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells
are emission-free, lightweight, compact, three times as efficient
as gas engines, have excellent ranges, easy refueling and
are totally safe. Therefore the primary advantages of electric
cars over hybrid cars are their lower emissions and higher
efficiency.
What
are the disadvantages of electric cars?
Some of the disadvantages of all electric cars have been their
limited range, long recharge times or exorbitant costs associated
with continual powering of the battery that runs the electric
motor. Although solar-powered electric cars, which are equipped
with batteries that are charged by the sun, have longer ranges,
they are still dependent on batteries, which have size and
weight limitations. To meet public acceptance, a car must
include specific conditions: drive a minimum of 300 miles
(482 km) between re-fueling, fill-up promptly and drive fast
enough to match traffic. An electric car cannot go more than
100 miles (161 km) between re-charging, is difficult to re-charge
in some instances and doesn't drive beyond 60 mpg as yet.
What are
the pros of hybrid cars over conventional cars?
Hybrid cars blend the best of the conventional car with the
best of electric cars for a winning combination. Uniting the
cleaner energy of the electric motor with the long-range power
of the gasoline engine yields a hybrid automobile with lower
toxic emissions with better fuel economy-sometimes up to 30
miles a gallon or more than conventional cars. And the good
news is these HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles) perform as well
if not better than non-hybrids and are as safe, reliable and
comfortable as any traditional car. And they are competitively
priced! At least until 2006, hybrid car purchasers will receive
tax benefits and on an ongoing basis, fuel costs will drop
considerably. Each car owner will have to determine whether
the pros of hybrid cars warrant their willingness to spend
a little more on the initial purchase, for lower costs later
on.
How much money
can I save on fuel costs by buying a hybrid automobile?
How much you will save on fuel costs by driving a hybrid car
instead of a non-hybrid depends on several factors including
how much you drive, the cost of gas and how long you plan
to keep your car. If you compare the Honda Civic Hybrid to
the Civic non-hybrid, for example, at $2/gallon you'd save
$100/year for every 10,000 miles. This is based on a difference
of 10 MPG between the two cars. If your new hybrid got 20
MPG over your conventional car, all other factors remaining
the same, you'd save $250/year. Whether or not you will save
as much on fuel costs as the additional cost of a hybrid automobile
will be based on the previous factors mentioned as well as
which hybrid automobile you buy. For a comparison to the current
models, take the Fuel
Cost Savings Test.
How do the
hybrid car models compare?
See the All About Hybrid
Car comparison chart for more information about how the
different hybrid car models compare.
What
other fuel sources may be used in the future?
Hydrogen-powered fuel cells hold the promise as a clean source
of power for electric motors, without the limitations of batteries.
In a fuel cell, hydrogen is burned in a pollution-free chemical
reaction where the fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen
to produce electricity, water and waste heat. Since hydrogen
is the most abundant element in the universe, it seems like
the best replacement for more limited resources like oil.
However, due to production costs and refueling limitations,
manufacturers estimate that road-ready hydrogen-powered vehicles
are at least a decade away. In addition to hydrogen fuel cells,
engineers continue to experiment with alternative fuels such
as biodiesel, natural gas, ethanol, methanol and propane-as
well as fuel made from corn, soybeans, grass and sugar beets.
Concept vehicles are being tested and some are even being
used in commercial situations, like buses and other commercial
vehicles that run on diesel. These fuels may represent a new
breed of hybrid beyond the still gas-polluting engines of
the current crop of HEVs.
Read more on alternative fuel vehicles
What 2005 hybrids were released?
Several 2005 hybrids were released during the year. These include the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, the Lexus RX 400h Hybrid SUV, the Toyota Highlander SUV, the Dodge Ram, the Mercury Mariner SUV, the Chevy Silverado pickup, the Sierra pickup, and the Dodge Ram pickup. By 2008, a total of 28 hybrid models-18 truck and 10 car models-are expected to be on the market.
What SUV hybrids are coming out?
Over the next two years-2006 through 2007-several SUV hybrids will be released. Among those are the Saturn VUE SUV, the Chevy Equinox SUV, the Chevy Tahoe SUV, the Chevy Trailblazer SUV, the GMC Yukon SUV and the Honda Pilot SUV. Although no one is expecting the SUV hybrids to compare in mileage to the hybrid sedans, the fuel economy will be considerable. As an example compare the Ford Escape at an EPA rating of 20/25 MPG (city/highway) to the Ford Escape Hybrid at 36/31 MPG (city/highway). With the hybrid you could save several hundred dollars a year on fuel costs. And you'll be doing the environment a big favor!
What is the history of hybrid automobiles?
In the 18th century, France had a steam-powered motor carriage that traveled 6 mph. In the 19th century, an Englishman assembled a car with an electric motor, and a blacksmith in Vermont produced an electric motor powered carriage in the 1830s. By the end of the 1800s, a Connecticut manufacturer had produced hundreds of electric cars and a German named Porsche manufactured a front wheel drive electric car and later a hybrid using an internal combustion engine pared with an electric motor. This is probably the first hybrid vehicle on record. In 1904, when Henry Ford developed the first assembly line manufacturing plant for gas-powered vehicles, the decline of electric powered vehicles for mass consumption was imminent.
After the U.S. Congress in the late 1960s, launched bills suggesting that producing electric vehicles would help cut air pollution, renewed interest in alternative transportation was revived. General Motors tested an experimental hybrid car that used electricity up to 13 mpg, then switched to a gas engine, although it only reached 40 mpg. After the 1973 Arab oil embargo, gas prices mounted, and concern for developing an effective alternative was revived. By the late 1970s, General Motors was spending more than $20 million on electric vehicle research and promised to have effective cars by the mid-80s. In 1993, the Dept. of Energy initiated the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) program as a partnership with the three largest U.S. car manufacturers: GM, Ford and Chrysler. Their joint goal was to have realistic models by 2000 and usable vehicles by 2003-keeping costs, safety and operation in line with conventional cars, but with double the mileage. Over the next few years, several automakers offered electric vehicles for sale starting in California, such as the Toyota RAV4, Ford's Ranger pickup and Honda's EV Plus. The disadvantages of electric cars showed up in unenthusiastic sales, so the manufacturers went back to the HEV concept. Toyota put out the first bona fide mass produced hybrid car in Japan in 1997-the four-door Toyota Prius. It appeared in the U.S. in 2000. Honda was right behind with the two-door Insight released in 1999 and in 2002, they released the Civic Hybrid which offered almost double the mpg of the non-hybrid Civic and all the performance quality. Since then, most of the other car manufacturers have jumped on board.
How does a hybrid automobile work?
Hybrid automobiles blend two or more technologies, and in the case of HEVs, it's the merging of gasoline power with electric power. Today's hybrid cars pair an internal combustion (IC) engines or gas-powered with an electric motor powered by a nickel hydride battery. The electric motor assists the gas engine in starting up and accelerating. Up to 15 mpg and when idling, your car is on electric power alone. This decreases the use of gas and reduces toxic emissions from the IC engine. What makes this technology successful over previous attempts is the development of a braking system that recharges the battery every time you hit the brakes so you never need to recharge the battery.
What are some economic pros of hybrid cars?
President Bush signed an energy bill in late 2005 that provides generous tax credits to people who buy new hybrid automobiles and other fuel-efficient vehicles starting Jan 1, 2006. Credits will decline after a car manufacturer has sold 60,000 hybrids under the new program, so buyers might have to act quickly to get the benefit. The credits vary by model and will be based on two things: how much more fuel efficient the car is compared with an average 2002 car of the same weight class and how much gasoline the car will save over its lifetime compared with a baseline car in the same weight class. The latter provision will let some hybrid SUVs qualify for a tax credit, even though they guzzle more gas than smaller conventional cars that get no tax credit.
The credits expire after 2010 for most vehicles. Some of the credits are $600 for a Honda Accord Hybrid
and $3,150 for a Toyota Prius. For most people, the credit, which reduces taxes dollar for dollar, will be more valuable than the existing $2,000 deduction, which reduces income before taxes. A $2,000 deduction reduces most people's tax bill by $500 to $700. A $2,000 tax credit will cut a tax bill by $2,000. The credits will apply to HEVs, vehicles powered by fuel cells, advanced "lean burn" diesel and other alternative power sources. Both diesels and hybrids must meet certain emissions standards to qualify for the credit. Additional economic advantages of some of the hybrid vehicles include use of carpool and HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes and parking free at downtown meters and in city lots.
What are the environmental pros of hybrid cars?
The United States is the world's largest producer of CO2. U.S. motor vehicles use over eight million barrels of oil per day, costing roughly $200,000 per minute to import. More than 50% of U.S. oil is imported-25% from Persian Gulf countries. Petroleum products supply more than 95% of America's transportation energy requirements. Besides air quality, the process of extracting oil creates other harmful effects-oil spills, underground fuel storage tank leaks and tropical forest destruction In addition, the U.S. dependence on foreign oil poses economic and security hazards. The quantity of CO2 released by a vehicle is basically proportional to the amount of fuel consumed, therefore fuel-efficient cars can definitely contribute to stopping global warming. HEVs have the potential to decrease CO2 gas emissions by one-third to one-half and at the same time cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Compared to a conventional car, the hybrids burn far less gas per mile and produce much less pollution, especially greenhouse gases. The Toyota Prius, for example, reduces normalized tailpipe emissions by up to 90% and greenhouse gas emissions by around 50%. In December of 1997, many world nations met in Kyoto, Japan to establish a treaty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, ratified by all the leading industrial nations except the U.S., required the more prosperous nations to show the way in reduction of emissions by the years 2008-2012.
What are some of the other alternative fuel vehicles?
Although research is continually progressing, there are no other alternative fuel vehicles available yet for mass consumption. A lot of research is being conducted into fuel cells, an electrochemical powerplant fueled by hydrogen that creates electricity for driving a vehicle's electric drive motors. Its great advantage is that it's more than twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine in transforming energy into power and it does this without combustion. Its sole emissions are heat and water vapor, with no greenhouse gases produced.
An array of fuel cell vehicles from the major automakers are now in field trials in the U.S. and Japan. Most of this activity is centered in Sacramento, California, through the California Fuel Cell Partnership, although fuel cell consortia in other states, as well as in Japan, are now promoting highway demonstrations of fuel cell vehicles. Fuel cells, however, still face significant developmental issues that include durability and, especially, cost. Operation in extremely cold temperatures is also a hurdle, although Honda has recently made breakthroughs in this area with its latest fuel cell.
In recent years, some automakers have been examining hydrogen as a fuel for their internal combustion engine vehicles, beside being used in fuel cells. BMW, Ford, and Mazda are at the forefront of this effort with concept and demonstration vehicles running on either gaseous or liquefied hydrogen. Hydrogen vehicles have a long developmental road ahead of them. Perhaps the greatest challenge for them is the infrastructure. Simply, there are only a handful of places in the country where hydrogen vehicles can be fueled. A hydrogen refueling station is extremely expensive at a half-million dollars or more, making the creation of a widespread refueling infrastructure a daunting and expensive task. Still, it may come, and innovations like the home hydrogen refueling system being developed by Honda R&D and its developmental partner Plug Power could shorten the timeline considerably if they come to pass. Other alternative fuels in development are batteries powered by solar, and engines powered by ethanol, natural gas and propane.
How can I learn more about hybrid vehicles?
Learn everything you want to know about fuel-efficient hybrid cars with All About Hybrid Cars: Maximum Performance Minimum Impact, the eBook with all the answers. Learn what hybrid cars are, how they work and how hybrid cars can save you money while decreasing our nations dependency on foreign oil. View sample chapters.
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