Hybrid car
Automotive illustrated glossary
 Hybrid car - Toyota Prius. Click for larger image |
 Toyota Prius Energy Monitor |
The common challenge the car manufacturers face is how to improve the fuel economy and lower harmful emissions without sacrificing power and comfort. During a regular daily driving we rarely use full engine power. To make enough power available when we need to pass or merge, the car manufacturers have to pack their vehicles with bigger engines. A bigger engine means poor fuel economy and higher emissions.
A hybrid vehicle is one of the possible answers to this challenge. A Hybrid Electric Vehicle can have a smaller, more economical engine and an additional electric motor that would only kick in when more power is needed. In a Hybrid Electric Vehicle the gasoline (or diesel) engine can be turned off during stops to avoid unnecessary idling. In addition, a Hybrid Electric Vehicle can regenerate and reuse some of the energy, that a conventional vehicle would loose to heat during braking.
Different Hybrid Electric Vehicle manufacturers use very different design, but most of the basic features remain similar:
- During acceleration, the gasoline engine works together with an electric motor, which uses the power stored in a hybrid battery.
- During the deceleration or braking, the electric motor, acting as a generator, recovers the energy and recharges the hybrid battery.
- During normal driving, the hybrid battery is being recharged automatically with the power generated by the gasoline engine.
- During stops, the gasoline engine shuts off. When more power is needed, the gasoline engine starts almost seamlessly, with an electric motor acting as a starter.
- Some hybrids, such as Toyota Prius or Ford Escape hybrid could also operate in a purely electric mode during slow steady driving.
The benefits of hybrid vehicles are obvious: better fuel economy and reduced emissions.
However, it's worth to mention, that Hybrid Electric Vehicles are more beneficial in a city than on the highway. This is because there are more stops during city driving when the gasoline engine could be shut off, and braking is used more often, thus more energy can be regenerated. During highway driving the gasoline engine must run almost all the time, therefore the advantage in the fuel economy is less noticeable.
Another plus is that in many cases there are some financial incentives offered by various national and local government agencies for buying a hybrid vehicle.
The disadvantages are the higher price and more complex design which makes hybrid cars more expensive to service. In addition, most of the repairs can only be done by an authorized dealer.
Currently, Toyota leads in sales of passenger hybrid vehicles with Toyota Prius being the best selling hybrid car.
