Hybrid Cars Raises New Awareness

By: Andy Hodges
Staff Writer
Published: Jun 22, 2009

Articles - Hybrid Cars Double In Popularity

A recent report based on hybrid cars was conducted by Rasmussen that shows most Americans use their own vehicles to travel from home to work. Four out of five respondents admit that the price of gas will be a very important factor when purchasing a new car. Other reports indicate that the demand for these hybrids has doubled since last year.

New Hybrid Cars are built with intelligence and are smart enough to save gas while providing feedback to the driver on how to achieve greater fuel economy. These vehicles reduce idle emissions by shutting off its gasoline engine to run completely on electric power. Moreover, the gas engine is used as a generator to recharge electric batteries when needed.

The process is simple. When you drive a hybrid car at lower speeds, it will use electric power. It determines that there's no need to burn gasoline at lower speeds or when sitting idle.

The term "hybrid" is also misused or commonly misunderstood. Most people believe it's another term for electric cars. It actually means that any vehicle used for transportation that uses two sources of power to operate is a hybrid.

For example, remember the popular moped bicycle? It uses two sources of power. The rider can either peddle the bike, or use its gasoline engine to operate and run.

A hybrid car also uses two sources of power. The car is either powered by electric batteries or its gasoline engine. While these automobiles are coined as electric cars, it still uses another source (gas motor) to power or to recharge its hybrid batteries.

These vehicles deliver the same power as conventional automobiles. The technologies that go into these cars are massive. These vehicles have been road-tested for years as well as new designs in aerodynamics.

There is nothing unpopular or funny about driving a new hybrid car. It is a very smart decision to save on gas, lower carbon emissions, and to save on future maintenance repairs. Most of these vehicles use no belts under the hood and already have a proven track record on reliability.

Have you ever asked a friend about hybrid electric cars? You will often hear things like, "Yes, but the battery needs a replacement about every two years, and it costs like $5,000!" This is somewhat a myth and started long ago by one of the conventional automakers who didn't see the need to develop these newer car technologies.

It is true that hybrid batteries over time will eventually wear out. However, hybrid cars try to extend the lifetime of a battery by only giving it a 50 percent charge. The most common reason why a battery wears out is due to overcharging and depleting it to zero.

Hybrid cars don't allow the battery to deplete, and it will maintain a charge of about 50 percent. Most automakers, including Ford, Toyota, and Honda, offer a full warranty on its battery and electric components. This means that if anything goes wrong with the car or its battery during the warranty, it will be fully replaced, at no cost.

I'll give you another example. The Toyota Prius first and second generation automobiles have an eight-year warranty. Toyota has reported that most of the original cars, developed since 1997 and 2004, are still using its original hybrid battery.

Here are some tips when shopping for hybrid cars. First, make sure the car has a warranty on all hybrid components and battery. Be sure to check the fuel economy with something you can live with (a typical car will get 40 mpg to 50 mpg).