Hybrid Cars: Less Fuel, Less Emissions

Your vehicle may give you the comfort of owning your own car, but the ever increasing prices of gas create a real strain on your wallet. Add to that the fact that the large scale use of fossil fuel like oil is harmful to the environment. Today most of us believe that getting rid of all gasoline powered engines would be great for the environment-and the pocket.

Auto manufacturers, including as usual the Japanese car manufacturer, sensed the opportunity and developed a new breed of cars. These are called hybrid cars and they combine the best features of an electric car with that of the conventional, gasoline powered car

You may find several long benefit-laden articles and sales pages promoting hybrid cars, even though these cars are costlier than their conventional counterparts. The idea of saving on gas obviously appeals to a lot of people.

As people have become increasingly concerned about global warming and reducing fuel consumption, the benefits afforded by driving a hybrid vehicle seem to be overwhelmingly attractive. Instead of selecting a car for its space, special features, and outward appearance, consumers are now beginning to choose vehicles based on fuel economy and emissions.

But if you are like me, you will do lot of research before you agree to pay a premium for hybrid cars.

The Making of A Hybrid Car

Hybrid cars combine an electric engine with a gasoline powered one, which means the use of gasoline isn't totally eliminated but it can be greatly reduced.

Hybrid cars are lightweight and aerodynamically designed; to reduce the energy needed to run them. In slow city traffic the conventional engine is automatically shut off completely, generating no emissions whatsoever. When more speed and power is needed, the conventional engine seamlessly kicks in, partially or fully.

Hybrid cars have been around since 1999, when Honda introduced the Insight two-seater to the world. The first buyers were the environmentally conscious or just people who wanted to be known as the first to own the car. Toyota launched improved bigger and powerful Prius just when the gas prices were beginning to increase. The hybrid car market picked up. Almost at the same time Ford brought out the small Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, Honda unveiled its hybrid version of the Accord. Lexus and Mercury, GM, Sierra, Nissan, Saturn, BMW, and Porsche published their plan on hybrid cars in 2005.

In 2005, about 200,000 hybrid cars & vehicles were sold in the United States, a mere fraction of the total conventional cars sold that year.

Claimed Benefits Of Hybrid Cars

Most importantly, hybrid cars are energy efficient.

When the car is stopped for short periods, like at traffic signals, intermittent engine shut off comes into play.

Lightweight building materials make the hybrid more energy efficient, with aerodynamic styling to reduce wind drag. Hybrid cars use low rolling resistance tires which add to the energy efficiency.

Hybrids are also good for our environment. They emit 97% less emissions than their counterparts in non-hybrid cars.

The Government also gives income tax credit if you buy hybrid cars – though maybe not for too long.

It is planned to reduce California's greenhouse emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. To support this program Auto insurer started giving 10% discount on hybrid car auto insurance.

Does The Hybrid Car Really Save Energy?

Surprisingly, a hybrid vehicle costs more in terms of overall energy consumed than comparable non-hybrid cars. As an example, the energy cost of the Honda Accord Hybrid is about $3.29, but the energy cost of the non-hybrid Honda Accord is $2.18. Therefore, during the lifetime of the Accord Hybrid, the vehicle will require about 50% more energy than the non-hybrid version.

According to CNW marketing research if you are concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high- fuel-economy hybrid vehicles. But hybrid cars most often consume more energy than conventional car.

Hence, if you are thinking of getting a hybrid, you need to check hybrid tax credit, possible discount on auto insurance, fuel economy and energy usage.

Hybrid car information provides excellent and easy to understand information on hybrid vehicle. Author is an auto engineer and she will be happy to answer your questions on hybrid car.