How Do Hybrid Cars Work by Thomas Jones

Hybrid cars are the Model T of our century. They are cars produced to reduce greenhouse gases, at the same time to get better gas mileage than other vehicles which no one probably dreamed would be at all possible, but hybrid owner is grateful since the huge increase in gas prices in recent months. But do you know what is behind the hybrid cars' ability to reduce emissions? How do they work?

A hybrid car is a cross of two kinds of cars: the fuel-driven and the electric car. Let us see how the two work and how they can function as one hybrid engine.

Fuel-driven engines of cars have a fuel tank, an internal-combustion engine, and a transmission, which work to let the wheels of the car go round and round. Fuel from the fuel tank is sent to the engine, which it processes through the transmission to make the wheels turn.

The same process goes through electric cars, but battery packs are used to send electricity to the motor. The motor then processes this through the transmission, which then makes the wheels turn.

A hybrid car has the parts of both the fuel-driven and the electric vehicle, including fuel tank, gas engine, battery pack, generator, and transmission. Some differences include the gas engine which is smaller on hybrid cars, and developed for more efficiency and emitting less harmful gases to the environment. Transmissions can be constructed so differently in some hybrids, but with the same basic purpose. The one item a hybrid has that neither the electric nor the conventional car have is the generator. The generator on a hybrid is used to produce electricity, making the hybrid more efficient than an electric car because it does not have to stop to charge up. The part that distinguishes a hybrid from the electric and the conventional car is the generator. This generator produces electricity, which makes the hybrid car more efficient than the electric car because there is not need to stop just to recharge.

A hybrid harnesses the power from electricity and gasoline using a computer system that commands the engine to shut off when its speed is 15 miles per hour or less. It can also tell the motor to push more when there is a need in getting uphill.

Let's go back to the smaller engine size to understand how the hybrid vehicle works more efficiently. Its design, as you can see, is for the driver's actual, not possible, needs. The traditional vehicle normally has a heavy engine for times it is really needed. But both energy and gasoline are wasted because we hardly need to step on it as much. The lighter and smaller parts of the hybrid engine can meet the actual needs of most drivers. There, so less energy and fuel are used unnecessarily in moving the heavy engine.

Hence, the power from two energies in the hybrid cars, electricity and gasoline, are more efficiently used in the long run. You are being eco-friendly too, the more you use the hybrid.

You can also learn more about hybrid cars at hybridcarchat.com and discus this in the hybrid car forums.

About the Author

Hybrid car enthusiast and writer.