Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Hybrid Car and Petrol Prices

By Colin Jones

The appeal and popularity of the hybrid car have grown exponentially, especially with the growing worries about rising fuel prices as well as worsening air pollution. Here are some useful pieces of information that might help you learn more about hybrid cars and how they may help you save on gas and be somewhat protected from rising gas.

A hybrid car is the sort of car, or any other vehicle, that makes use of at least two different fuel sources to make it run. Both fuel types are used together in some instances to help drive the car more efficiently. There are several different types of hybrid car possible, but the most popular hybrid car so far is the gas electric hybrid.

The gas-electric hybrid car, also called the hybrid electric vehicle or HEV, makes use of a gasoline internal combustion engine or ICE and a quite separate electric motor to power it. While the ICE makes uses petrol to make it run, an electric battery is used to store the electrical energy that powers the hybrid car's electric engine.

The HEV usually has a gas engine that is smaller in size and weight than the conventional one used in standard gas powered cars. Use of a more advanced technology makes this possible and allows the HEV to have better running efficiency together with greatly reduced polluting emissions.

Apart from the petrol engine, the hybrid electric car also has a special electric motor built in that not only produces added power to the car but also acts as a generator when it is not being used. The electric motor acts as a generator, in situations when it is not being used to drive the hybrid car, to help charge the battery for additional efficiency.

In a common HEV set up, the car uses its electric motor when being driven at very low speeds, say, in traffic jams. The gasoline engine acts as a secondary power source when the HEV requires much more power, such as when climbing a hill. The petrol engine also compensates the electric motor with power whenever the car needs it in order to go faster such as when overtaking. The gas and the electric motor can also work together at certain instances when needed.

Since the hybrid electric car makes use of both an electric motor as well as a petrol motor, a substantial improvement in car mileage is achieved. A hybrid electric vehicle or HEV can run longer distances using the same amount of petrol compared to a conventional gas powered vehicle.

Whenever the electric motor is being used, petrol consumption is reduced. This results in less gas being used when running the same distance as a traditional petrol powered vehicle. And because the hybrid electric car has a smaller petrol engine, the hybrid car also runs more efficiently because of less engine weight compared to a conventional car's engine.

The moving parts of the hybrid car engine are also lighter and so need less energy to move. The resulting efficiency makes the hybrid electric car quite a great option for people concerned with rising gas prices. Using a hybrid car can help motorists save a large amount of gas when traveling. On top of that, using the hybrid car can also help reduce polluting emissions by using less petrol while travelling.

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