Hybrid Electric Car – Saving Money Through Alternative Energy
Posted by Admin at 3 May 2018, at 17 : 04 PM
The fuel prices continue to rise as we speak and the end is nowhere in sight. Right now, the oil is priced at around $130 per gallon and if this trend continues, the gasoline prices will explode. If car makers in the past few years have witnessed big sales of large 4×4 SUVs, the customers are now asking for alternative fuel supplies for their vehicles.
For several years now car manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, have developed hybrid prototype cars and several manufacturers have introduced such models on the market, with more to follow. If technologies such as hydrogen powered cars that run using plain water to transform it into energy are far from being implemented on a large scale, hybrid electric cars are on the market and they offer significant a fuel saving.
There are two types of hybrid electric cars: cars that run only on electricity alone and cars that combine a gasoline or diesel engine with an electric one. However, the first types of cars may have only an electric motor and they are pollutant free, but they offer a short autonomy. Vehicle manufacturers have used a hybrid technology instead and they have combined an electric engine that powers the car when it requires slow speeds (such as driving around town) with a traditional gasoline engine that powers the car when you are driving on the highway. Gasoline cars consume a lot of fuel al slow speeds and in urban areas and this is where the hybrid electric car is very efficient.
Most hybrid electric cars run solely on electricity until they reach 30 or 40 mph which gives them a significant economy in terms of fuel consumption. When you need more power, such as when driving on the highway or when you are suddenly accelerating the car, the gasoline engine powers up giving you speed and acceleration. Most hybrid electric cars, such as Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic Hybrid, use both engines when accelerating, having a better agility than their gasoline powered counterparts.
Hybrid electric cars are currently offering the latest technology aimed at improving the car’s mileage and offering you significant fuel savings. By combining two motors, some car makers (Lexus for example) are offering an economic 4×4 transmission car. However, the technology used in hybrid electric cars is still in its infancy and these cars only offer you between 100 and 200 miles of autonomy when running solely on batteries. When they are depleted, the gasoline engine is powered up and it will take some time before the batteries are fully charged again. Nonetheless, hybrid electric cars offer the best economy and efficiency on the market today.
Car rentals and taxi companies are especially interested in buying hybrid electric cars as they will offer a significant saving when being used around town. You can find more information on the manufacturers’ web pages and the Internet has a lot of relevant information about the future of hybrid electric cars. Specialists estimate that by 2020 more than half of the cars sold in the world will be hybrids.