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What is a hybrid vehicle?
With higher gas prices more people consider
buying a hybrid vehicle a viable option.
A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that combines two or more sources of power. Hybrid SUV's and hybrid cars combine a gasoline or diesel engine with an electric motor. The vehicle has a gas tank, a small gasoline or diesel engine, and batteries to power the electric motor. Hybrids have smaller and more efficient engines that get help from an electric motor when more power is needed.
An onboard computer works to optimize the balance between the electric motor and the gasoline engine, only using both during heavy acceleration or at high speeds. It also works to keep the batteries charged between 30%-80% at all times. The computer can use the electric motor to recapture energy when the vehicle is braking. In this case the electric motor is working like a generator.
Few people are able to notice you're even driving a hybrid vehicle as they look and feel like conventional automobiles.
Driving Around Town
Most hybrids achieve better fuel mileage around town than on the highway. This is because in stop and go conditions a hybrid vehicle can shut off its gasoline engine. In this case the electric motor (drawing power from the batteries) will run vehicle components such as the radio, climate control, and lights. As the electric motor is running the vehicle components you're not wasting gas or polluting harmful emissions into the atmosphere when you are stopped in traffic. Once traffic starts moving, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is automatically turned back on. Some hybrids (such as the Toyota Prius) can power the vehicle up to about 15 mph with the electric motor. At speeds beyond that the ICE will turn on to provide additional power.
On the Highway
Hybrids offer great highway mileage for two reasons. First hybrids use a more efficient engine that consumes less gas. More importantly hybrids are designed to provide the least wind resistance possible, something that is increasingly more important as speeds rise. At highway speeds about 60% of power is required to overcome air drag. To reduce this number, hybrid cars are designed to maximize aerodynamic efficiencies. A vehicle with a lower co-efficient of drag will make it easier for air to flow over the car instead of pushing against it. Some hybrids are designed with special wheels that help the vehicle cut through the wind more effectively. Hybrids are also outfitted with low resistance tires that are inflated to a higher psi.
On the highway hybrids run on the internal combustion engine but can activate the electric motor if more power is required for passing. Some hybrids even offer cylinder deactivation when cruising. Cylinder deactivation is when an engine doesn't send fuel to 1 or more of the cylinders as the power isn't needed. All of this is controlled by the onboard computer system.
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