What You Should Know About Gas-Electric Hybrid Vehicles

As gas prices continue to rise to unprecedented heights with future increases on the horizon (projected prices for the summer of 2006 are as much as $1.50 per liter, or $6 per gallon) more and more people are considering purchasing a hybrid vehicle. It is important to understand what a hybrid car is, what types are available, and the benefits of purchasing a hybrid vehicle. A hybrid car is a vehicle that uses a combination of at least two different fuel sources for its propulsion. Although many combinations are possible, generally when people are talking about hybrid cars, they are referring to cars with a combination of a gasoline internal combustion engine, an electric motor, and a battery that powers the electric motor and stores energy for future use. Hybrid cars may also be called gas-electric hybrids. Some examples of current hybrid cars include the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid (HCH), the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Honda Accord Hybrid, and the Honda Insight. Due to their special use of technology, hybrid cars receive much higher gas mileage than the average U.S. vehicle. In fact, hybrid cars hold the top spots for fuel economy in their respective categories: two-seaters, compact cars and mid size cars. The clean burning hybrids also receive a one-time deduction for tax purposes in the year of their purchase, as part of the Federal Government’s clean air initiative. Hybrids will save you money in gas, but this should be set against what they may cost you in other areas. Hybrid cars are as much as $2,000 to $5,000 more than the standard version of the same vehicle. They also contain parts that might be more costly to repair or replace due to specialized mechanics. The more complex powertrain of the hybrid car also means that you will require a more specialized mechanic when it comes time for repairs. Hybrid cars also typically have less power that the non-hybrid version. The emphasis has not been put on speed, and the acceleration capabilities are often not up to par with comparable vehicles. It is important to remember that hybrid cars are a new technology. As with most technologies, they will inevitably improve over time, so it might be best to hold off on purchasing that new hybrid for a little while, until their engineering catches up to their economy.

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The Importance Of The Electric Car

If you are like most people and driving and other forms of travel is essential to your work and life otherwise than this article is for you. With gasoline prices finally getting as high in this country as they have been in the rest of the world for some time people are starting to feel the crunch that it is causing on their budgets. Enter the electric car the so called savior of personal transportation in this country. The technology that makes the electric car possible has been with us for decades now. There is little reason for them not to be mainstream now other than the fact that oil has been a huge part of our economy and that we use so much that we have been getting bargain prices for all of these years. Now that the bargains are vanishing though alternative fuel sources and other alternative means of getting around are becoming more priority as expected. This is making a lot of people happy too. Lots of people are especially worried about the environment and the effect of burning so many fossil fuels and creating the green house gases responsible for global warming. This is especially true now that Al Gore’s movie has been released raising the concern to new heights. So besides the economy of the electric car the cleanliness with respect to the environment is also a major appeal. The electric car is not the only new form of transportation that is on the table however. The hybrid cars are receiving stiff competition from other alternative fuels like ethanol and hydrogen cells. These are both very renewable sources of energy and have very clean working engines. The hydrogen cells are especially cool because the only byproduct of combustion in this engine is water! Nothing could be cleaner than the environment than water. We’ll see… probably in 20 years when hydrogen cells are mainstream we will find out that the extra production of water is going to flood our country with rising sea levels and throw the planet’s spin off kilter or some crap like that. But for now I am excited with all of this new technology.

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Are Electric Cars A Part Of Your Future?

It seems that not so long ago, electric cars were a very distant possibility. However, in today’s world, electric cars are becoming extremely popular and may very well be a large part of our not so distant future. Electric cars have been produced, tried, and tested by many manufacturers and consumers are excited about the prospect. Let us take a look at the many positives that can go with the future of electric cars and why we should consider it as a possibility in our own future.

Electric cars are all together cleaner and safer for our environment. By driving electric cars, our generation will virtually eliminate air pollution and make the air cleaner for future generations. Cleaner air to breathe is a necessity and electric cars can work to provide that.

Electric cars are more affordable than fuel powered cars. Studies on electric cars have shown that for a passenger vehicle it will cost less to run the electric cars, than filling your car up every week with gas. In fact, for about $30, electric cars can operate for one full month. With the price of fuel on the rise at a consistent speed, electric cars would offer our finances a nice break. Maintenance is more affordable as well; you will not have to worry about changing the oil, submitting your car for a smog check, or having a tune up performed on electric cars.

Noise pollution is something we all complain about, especially within the bigger cities. Electric cars provide a quieter environment for everyone concerned. The future of electric cars mean no more 3 AM wake up calls by our neighbor’s loud cars. Furthermore, those that live close to busy streets and highways will sleep and live easier without the extra noises from the cars driving down the streets.

One problem about electric cars is at the present time it cannot travel extremely far without needing a charge. 25 to 60 miles on one charge is about all you can expect at this point in time. However, some areas offer “charging stations”, for example those in California can stop at a charging station and charge their electric cars for longer trips. It takes about three hours to fully charge the electric cars before you are ready to go again. The technology of electric cars is still being manufactured and research; we can expect great things in the markets in the future.

In the end, we all live here on earth and are all responsible for its preservation. Everyone needs to do their part, however seemingly small that may be. Use of electric cars is only one possibility to consider in preserving quality of life on earth for ours and future generations.

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