How Do Hybrid Cars Work?

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is quite a marvel. Even as a work in progress, it has improved the gas-dependence situation and has saved many from having to spend so much on fossil fuels and has even helped save some taxpayer money.

What is it under the hybrid car hood that is creating all these raving reviews that seem to take consumers by the neck and lead them to their nearest hybrid car dealer? Let's try to take a look at just how hybrid cars work.

The Combination

The secret is in the term, "hybrid." A hybrid car basically just brings out and maximizes all that fuel economy and consumption and electrical power can do together. By putting together both a gas engine and an electrical motor, the combination permits the car to go back and forth between the energy sources. The usual case in a hybrid car though is that it really depends basically on the battery and electrical motors to run the whole vehicle.

So what is the gas for? Well, the vehicle will still need fuel to run a motor that charges the battery which in turn runs the whole car. But the beauty of this set up is that not much fuel is needed to charge up those batteries; thus, hybrid cars really only need so much fuel to fill their significantly smaller gas tanks and therefore it saves people from having to spend so much money on gas.

The Distance

To fully comprehend and appreciate how a hybrid car works, a spin in one with a full tank to compare results in terms of mileage and distance would be required. Definitely, you will see a lot of difference in vehicles running on electric motors. Going long distances is achieved in the way how a hybrid car operates. Generally-speaking, there are 3 technologies that allows this to happen.

The first technology in hybrid cars is known as the regenerative braking. This includes an electric engine that applies resistance to the drive train which, in turn, causes the wheels to stop or to slow down. The energy from the wheels turns the engine which in real time acts as a generator and transforms the energy wasted during coasting and braking into electricity. This electricity is then reserved and stored in the battery until it is required by other functions in the electric motor.

The next technology is known as elect motor assist and it provides additional power to assist the engine in acceleration like when speeding up or ascending. This means that the smaller engine (electric motor) is used and is more efficient than an internal combustion engine that requires and burns a lot of gas.

Another hybrid car technology is the automatic start and shutdown. When a hybrid car stops for a stoplight, the whole engine shuts down as well. This helps the engine in conserving energy and fuel from running idle. When the vehicle is accelerated again, the engine automatically starts up. When combined, these three hybrid technologies create a vehicle that is simply to reckon with!

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

Planning to drive your own hybrid vehicle? Find out more how hybrid vehicles operate or get more independent hybrid vehicle reviews from Anton Rowd now.
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