by Dennis J James
The first warnings were launched about 30 years ago, when the Middle Eastern countries had stopped the oil exports, sending the world into a never before seen energy crisis.
Today’s world is not that different, with oil prices climbing up day by day. Besides the peace factor, modern cars burn millions and millions of tons of oil each year, resulting tons of carbon dioxide and other gases that are the main causes of global warming.
Mankind has to find an alternative to traditional fuels and with today’s level of engineering, the hybrid cars appear to be the solution, as least for the time being.
With the advent of the hybrid car, car owners and users all over the world are now finding relief that indeed there is hope from spending hundreds of dollars each month at the gas station.
A hybrid car combines a traditional engine (an engine with internal combustion, either gasoline or diesel powered) with an electric engine to move the car.
A hybrid car has the advantage that at slow speeds, such as those on busy motorways, the car uses only the electric motor to move. This results to low emissions and a very high mileage (the electric engine brings in its benefits in those areas where the internal combustion engine was the least beneficial - at slow speeds and around the city). When a certain speed is passed, the internal combustion engine kicks in to help the electric engine move the car.
If you look at a hybrid from a pure technical point of view, a hybrid cannot be classified as an electric vehicle entirely because only about 40% of the energy consumption of the vehicle is from electric sources. This energy is stored in large batteries inside the car.
Until technology finds better solutions to burning oil and gas to move cars, hybrid cars are the only alternatives that can help you save money and contribute to the stop of global warning. However, there are also a series of drawbacks to owning a hybrid car.
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