Hybrid Cars Facts

A hybrid vehicle is one which uses two or more power sources for self-propelled movement. The term hybrid vehicle, or just hybrid, is generally used to refer to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) featuring an internal combustion engine as well as an electric motor.

Hybrid Vehicle Types
Basically there are three types of hybrid vehicles.

• Mild hybrid - In this version an electric motor and a battery is used to assist the internal combustion engine.
• Full hybrid - In this version the electric motor and the internal combustion engine, either work together or independently.
• Plug-in hybrid - In this version the internal combustion engine works as a backup for the electric system.

Facts About Hybrid Cars Power Source
The source of power for a hybrid vehicle may range from hydrogen, liquid nitrogen, solar, compressed/liquefied natural gas etc. With so many options of power to choose from, you can make a convenient choice with immense ease. Given below are some facts related to source of power in these vehicles.

• Most of the hybrid cars available today use gasoline as the primary source of power. However, they have the ability to switch to electric mode when needed.
• Most of the hybrid variant available today don't require any plug-in charging. They get recharged on their own when the car is in motion.
• If you take efficiency into consideration, hybrid cars are very economical. On an average these vehicles give a mileage of about 50 miles per gallon and just use one-thirds of gas used by their conventional counterparts.
• Many people complain that the battery pack in hybrid cars is very costly, but this battery pack comes in 38 modules and you need to just replace the module which isn't working, instead of changing the whole battery pack.

At a point of time, wherein we are on a verge of serious oil crisis and oil price is continuously soaring in the international market, hybrid cars do look quite promising alternatives to conventional cars.

Environment Friendly
If you take the various pros and cons of hybrid cars into consideration, one of the most prominent hybrid car facts, which will give an edge to hybrid cars is low emission.

Emission by hybrid cars is very low when compared to their conventional counterparts, which means that increasing use of hybrid cars will automatically decrease the levels of pollution and reduce the effects of global warming on the planet. Scientific estimates suggest that by replacing conventional cars with hybrid variants, emissions will be reduced by a whopping 90 percent.

However, the entire phase of replacement will take a good amount of time for proper execution. The manufacturers have the option of either adding hybrid technology to existing car models, or completely revamp their vehicles to suit hybrid technology to core. This plays an important role in determining the levels of emission in hybrid cars. At present, even reducing emissions by 10 percent would mean a considerable effort on the part of manufacturer as well as user.

More Interesting Facts
If you thought that the above mentioned information about the hybrid cars was fascinating, wait for a minute. Here are some more interesting, but lesser known facts about these cars.

• The year 1902 marked the introduction of the first hybrid car in the world - the 'Mixite'. It was developed by Ferdinand Porshe.
• Almost 95 years later, in 1997, the world witnessed the launch of the first commercial hybrid car in form of Toyota Prius.
• In a move to promote pollution free environment, various nations including the United States have come up with schemes such as tax rebate and tax credit for people using hybrid cars.

These are some facts, based on which experts claim that hybrid cars will rule the automobile market in next few decades. Only time will tell whether their claims will materialize or no, but as of now these cars with low emissions, great fuel efficiency and significant financial benefits, do show a promising future.