Hybrid Vehicles: All You Need to Know

Hybrid-electric vehicles have been on American roads for more than a decade, but, still, a lot of people don’t truly know what exactly a hybrid vehicle is, much less how one works. A common reaction to a hybrid is: “Why are you putting gasoline in it? Don’t you plug it in?” We’ll tell you everything you need to know about hybrid vehicles and probably a whole lot more. Here are the basics:

Hybrid Basics
1. A hybrid vehicle has two different power sources to allow it to do some things better than if it had just one. Consider a hybrid vehicle the offspring of a marriage between a conventional gasoline-engine car and a battery-only electric vehicle.


2. Almost all hybrids have a gasoline-fueled engine and a battery fed electric motor. The gas engine offers long driving range and quick refueling. The electric motor increases fuel mileage, especially in city driving, and aids acceleration.


3. Some hybrids are designed to offer the acceleration of a big-engine car, while providing the fuel economy of one equipped with a smaller engine. Others focus improving fuel mileage.


4. Several types of hybrid vehicles are on the road today. More versions are coming.


5. Hybrids are about as safe as conventional cars.


6. Hybrids last about as long as conventional cars.


7. Most current hybrids can go little or no distance on electric power alone.


8. For most current hybrids, the batteries are recharged by the gasoline engine.


9. With hybrids coming in the near future, drivers will be able to recharge the batteries by plugging into an electric outlet. An on-board gas engine will also charge the batteries.


10. Some of these plug-in hybrids will use electric motor(s) as their only source of propulsion: The gas engine will be to relegated to recharging the batteries on long trips or when an electric outlet isn’t available.


11. Other plug-in hybrids will continue to use the gas engine to power the wheels, but only after battery power drops to the minimum.


12. Most hybrids recapture some energy. When the car needs to slow down, the electric motor changes into a generator. The drag of turning the generator/motor replaces the brakes while recharging the battery a little bit.


13. In future hybrids, the gas engine may be replaced by a fuel cell. A fuel cell strips electricity from hydrogen (or another fuel) and emits only water vapor and oxygen. Honda fuel-cell-powered prototypes are on the road today.


14. Current hybrids aren’t quite as environmentally friendly as some believe and future hybrids will have a several issues that may limit their greenness.