After weighing your options and letting your curiosity get the better of you and start researching the Hybrid’s potential to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions… you start to hunt and shop around. Yet, the internet and printed dealer brochures, car reviews and owner opinions only tell you part of the story.
ALSO NOTE: It is a fact that there is a wide range of what is put under the umbrella or identifier ‘hybrid’ that simply is not! NOT ALL are created equal.
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HYBRID CAR FACT: HYBRID vehicles being marketed as hybrids, do not all utilize and leverage the full spectrum of hybrid technologies that are available.
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If the environment is a personal priority and selection criteria for you, ensure that you know what you are getting and what really is under-hood, past the hype and marketing lingo.
According to online sourcing and research regarding Hybrid vehicles, there are currently FIVE TYPES of hybrid technology available to automakers:
• Idle-off capability. The engine turns off when the vehicle is stopped in traffic or at a light and turns back on when you move your foot from the brake to the gas pedal.
• Regenerative braking. The electric motor helps slow the car, and functions as a generator to convert some of the energy typically lost during braking into electricity (thereby recharging the vehicle’s battery).
• Power assist and engine downsizing. The electric motor helps propel the car, in particular during acceleration. Because the motor and engine share the power load, the engine’s size can be reduced, saving even more fuel.
• Electric-only drive. The electric motor can power the vehicle by itself at low speeds and when first starting the car.
• Extended battery-electric range. The car runs solely on electric power for 20 to 60 miles before engaging the gasoline engine. You have to recharge the car’s battery by plugging it into an external electricity source.
There are numerous types and classifications making their way into this automotive category and hot seller:
- “mild” hybrids (Honda’s Insight and Civic Hybrid) employ the first three technologies above
- “Full” hybrids, (Toyota Prius and Ford Escape Hybrid)also sport electric-only drive.
- “Plug-in” hybrids that utilize all five technologies are not currently available as passenger vehicles.
- “muscle” hybrids, such as the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h, provide only a fraction of the potential fuel economy and environmental benefits.
- In-between hybrids (Honda Accord Hybrid) fall somewhere midway between mild and muscle hybrids.
- Also "Hollow" Hybrids which is not more than a marketing gimmick to sell conventional cars and simply calling them hybrids
Visit the Union of Concerned Scientists’ website at www.hybridcenter.org to learn more about hybrid cars and even view some side-by-side comparisons. These are extremely useful when you compare and test drive hybrids for yourself. (yes, we do recommend you drive as many of the models you are considering, YOURSELF!)
Hybrid cars have many environmental and economic incentives and benefits. You can cut down on pollutants and emissions and get tax breaks, rebates and benefit in the long run from saving on gas for example and low maintenance costs.
We have in all probability not seen the last of tax rebates and incentives. There will be more to come to encourage consumers that it is a wiser choice.
Fuel economy is a big selling factor of these hybrid cars and vehicles. Some say they will have slower depreciation too pretty soon as more and more of them make their way onto the road.
With battery efficiencies and related technology developments fueling continued interest in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, futuristic transportation and even humanly powered ‘machines’, more and more of us will be looking to alternative market offerings to get around.
Contribute and do your part to help the environment by purchasing a hybrid car. The main impetus and momentum for hybrid cards came in the early 1990s. Donated funds and research and increasing interest in new hybrid technologies are on the rise.