Hybrid Car In Our Life

Gas prices are on the rise with no relief in sight, and many people are starting to consider the advantage of owning a hybrid vehicle. But not many people are aware of its benefits. Hybrid car is any vehicle that runs on a combination of two power sources. The hybrid cars enable us to replace gasoline cars and reduce air pollution. But since hybrid cars were released to the market place, some hybrid models have been recalled due to problems in their engine systems. The hybrid technology is good for the environment, but it still might be too early for them to be accepted by consumers and the market, because there is a number of a mechanical issue still in doubt.

What exactly is a hybrid car and how can it benefit you? First you should know that hybrid cars are actually much more common than you might think. For example, many commuter trains and city buses are electric-diesel hybrid cars. Many types of industrial heavy vehicles, such as mining trucks and even submarines, are also hybrid cars. People have many questions about hybrid cars concerning their costs and maintenance expenses. Moreover, some people worry about the safety of hybrid cars. During the last few years, most car manufacturers have released hybrid cars and the consumers have generally seen them as an amazing development for the environment. However, after some hybrid models have been recalled several times, we need to carefully consider about buying a hybrid car.

Most hybrid cars on the road right now are gasoline-electric hybrids, although French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen has two diesel-electric hybrid cars in the works. Since gasoline hybrids are the kind you'll find at your local car dealership, I will focus on them.

You can combine the two power sources found in a hybrid car in different ways. One way, known as a parallel hybrid, involves a fuel tank that supplies gasoline to the engine and a set of batteries that supplies power to the electric motor. Both the engine and the electric motor can turn the transmission at the same time, and the transmission then turns the wheels. By contrast, in a series hybrid, the gasoline engine turns a generator, and the generator can either charge the batteries or power an electric motor that drives the transmission. Thus, the gasoline engine never directly powers the vehicle. The structure of a hybrid car harnesses two sources of power to increase efficiency and provides the kind of performance that most of us look for in a vehicle.

The most imminent question involving the hybrid car is how much money can be saved by purchasing a hybrid car. The Omaha World-Herald stated that, "most car buyers would be better off getting a traditional fuel-efficient car instead a hybrid car. An Edmunds.com analysis indicates, "they would save thousands of dollars over the first five years of ownership" (Wegner 1). The author also mentioned, "Edmund.com found that a consumer probably would end up paying more for a hybrid unless he or she drove much more than 15,000 miles a year or gas prices surpassed $5.60 a gallon" (Wegner 1). Many people think that a hybrid car must be cheaper than a gasoline car. It is because the costs of gas have been the most expensive for

cars. It goes without saying that someday hybrid cars will cost less than gasoline-only powered cars. However, we should care for our environment and how it is negatively impacted by the emission of gasoline cars.

Then how do hybrid cars make our environment green? Let's take the example of the California emissions standards, which dictate how much of each type of pollution a car is allowed to emit in California. The amount is usually specified in grams per mile (g/mi). For example, according to a Department of the California Environmental Protection Agency, the low emissions vehicle (LEV) standard allows 3.4 g/mi of carbon monoxide ("LEV Regulations" 23). The key thing here is that the amount of pollution allowed does not depend on the mileage your car gets. However a car that burns twice as much gas to go a mile will generate approximately twice as much pollution. That pollution will have to be removed by the emissions control equipment on the car. Therefore decreasing the fuel consumption of the car is one of the surest ways to decrease emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is another type of pollution a car produces. The U.S. government does not regulate CO2 emissions, but scientists suspect that it contributes to global warming. Since it is not regulated, a car has no devices for removing CO2 from the exhaust. A car that burns twice as much gas adds twice as much CO2 to the atmosphere. For these reason, people are considering buying hybrid cars to reduce the gas emissions into the environment.

Before buying a hybrid car, people want to know about how the hybrid cars benefit people. Mike Hanley, a cars.com staff writer, mentioned several advantages of hybrid cars. One of the first things people will likely notice when operating a hybrid is that its gas engine automatically shuts off when you come to a stop and starts again once people are under way. Moreover, people will be satisfied about the snow performance of hybrid cars. If people live in a part of the country where it snows, people will be happy to know that hybrids won't require any special precautions above what people would take when operating a conventional vehicle. Just as in conventional vehicles, snow tires and electronic aids like traction control and a stability system in hybrids improve handling in snow (Hanley 1-2). The question is whether hybrid cars have complicated technology that is difficult or expensive to fix. Working on a hybrid car will require some special training that your corner mechanic probably won't have. It makes you go to dealership to fix your car and also there will be only one or two mechanics trained on hybrid cars. However, most hybrid cars have longer warrantees than non-hybrid cars, so it is a slight concern for now.

We can see that hybrid cars have many benefits such as being environmentally friendly, having low maintenance costs, having higher fuel-efficiency and so on. But these are just the pros of a hybrid car. Lithium-ion battery packs in hybrid cars generate more heat because the electricity going in and out creates more thermal resistance. Of course, researchers are trying to solve this problem with sensors and computers. What people need to know is that there is a possibility of the battery being