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Hybrid Cars?

How do they work and save gas? Besides the Prius, which one is the best? No "smart cars" please.

Public Comments

1. lexus, they make great hybrid cars that are very energy efficient http://www.lexus.com/hybriddrive/
2. dont get a hybrid it wont save you money until gas reaches 10 buck a gallon plus the emission from the plants the make the batteries in them polute more than all the cars produced by a normal factory
3. Search Compressed Air Vehicles. Coming in 2010. Hybrids are not a solution.
4. Honda Accord Hybrid. Keeps good resale and they the best motors and they look the best.
5. Hybrid vehicles have both a gasoline engine and an electric motor. Basically how a hybrid vehicle works is, once the vehicle reaches a certain speed the engine will switch off and the electric motor will take over. (This is where you get your best gas mileage, because you aren't using any) If you live in a fairly flat area or if most of your driving is city driving, you will probably get very good gas savings since the gas engine will not be running most of the time. As for what is the "best", that depends on your taste & what you need. Ford and Saturn offer a hybrid 4x4 SUV. Toyota and Honda just have cars so far. GM will be unveiling hybrids within the next few years and from what I've read in the trade magazines on alternative fuel vehicles is coming out with a Fuel Cell vehicle within the next 5-10 yrs I believe the article stated. A fuel cell vehicle only has an electric motor, no gas engine at all, so in it you will use NO fuel what-so-ever. the downside of this vehicle is, if you forget to plug the car in at night to an AC outlet to recharge the batteries, you won't be going too far the next time you run it.
6. A hybrid car is a car that is propelled by more than one energy source. Typically, when one is thinking of a hybrid car, it is usually a gasoline/electric hybrid, as that is what is currently available commercially. (There are diesel-electric concept cars (not in production), and there are diesel-electric locomotives, submarines, and heavy construction equipment...) Usually a dual-fuel vehicle, like a CNG-gasoline or LPG-gasoline vehicle isn't in the popular hybrid definition, but those are usually aftermarket-fitted anyways. How a hybrid car works depends on the technology that a manufacturer decided to use to make it a hybrid. Not all hybrids are created equal. As the lowest common denominator, hybrids usually have a larger electric motor (for starting the gasoline engine or for charging the hybrid battery), larger/additional hybrid battery pack to drive the electric motor, auto-stop (gasoline engine turns off at idle), regenerative braking (coasting or light braking will cause the motor to act as a generator, capturing some of that lost kinetic energy of wheel motion and storing it as electricity in the hybrid battery), improved fuel economy, and lower emissions. More improved hybrid systems allow for tuning for higher performance (more power or acceleration), or for more fuel efficiency (usually through using a smaller engine, where the electric motors help out). On the more improved hybrid systems, you could see: - ability to act as a standing generator to power equipment off-site - additional peak power, by the electric motor assisting the gasoline engine as required (for acceleration or hill climbing, for example), similar to a turbo - electric-only propulsion (short periods of the electric motors/hybrid battery alone powering the car, for low power requirements (such as coasting, driving on the level, low speeds) - reduction in weight and ability to move accessories from belt-driven to electrically-driven (smaller wires needed) The Ford/Mercury hybrid system and the Nissan hybrid system is fairly similar to the older Toyota THS system (seen on the 2001-2003 Prius). Toyota/Lexus hybrids are currently using the THS-II or HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive) system. Honda is using their IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) hybrid system. GM's newer hybrids are using their BAS (belt-alternator system) or two-mode system, while their older "hybrid" pickups are pretty much the lowest common denominator listed above. For general overviews: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question262.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car.htm http://www.hybridcenter.org/hybrid-center-how-hybrid-cars-work-under-the-hood.html http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybridtech.shtml There are no commercially-available plug-in hybrids on the market so far. (So you cannot plug them in, other than the same gas station pump that most other regular cars use.) Some hobbiests and aftermarket companies have been altering a few hybrids (Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid/Mercury Mariner Hybrid) to make them plug-in capable. Typically this requires adding additional hybrid batteries, besides the ability to charge off the mains. For more information, check out http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html For cost reasons, unless you are a fleet owner or other high-mileage driver it probably will not be worth the cost of the PHEV conversion for you. (Conversion pricing is high due to startup costs and low volumes, besides the pricing of the needed additional battery packs.) To note, converting to a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) does not reduce the vehicle's range. It gives the owner the option to recharge the (newly added larger) hybrid battery pack at night (cheap electricity and off-peak electric load which would otherwise be lost). The vehicle would run for a certain distance (longer than stock) on the stored electric power alone, and when the battery pack is depleted to a certain point the vehicle reverts back to its original hybrid self and runs on a combination of the gasoline engine (which will also recharge the battery) and the electric motor. A PHEV would add a greater all-electric range to the existing hybrid, besides the ability (but not the requirement!) to plug it into an electric source. Insurance is about the same as a regular car. Maintenance is about the same as a regular car - use your favorite mechanic or DIY. Same gasoline as a regular car... Depending on model, many hybrids are holding high resale values (mainly the fuel-economy hybrids as opposed to the power hybrids). Pros: * Depending on where you live, tax incentives (income tax credit for US federal, some states or Canadian provinces offer income tax credits/deductions or sales tax reductions),or single-occupant HOV lane privilages (CA, VA, FL, NY), or reduced tolls (NY) or free parking... * better HP and acceleration than a comparable car * better (lower) emissions than a comparable car * better fuel economy than a comparable car * own a neat techy car * long warranty (depending on model, the hybrid battery or system is warrantied in the US a minimum of 8 years/80,000 miles, up to the AT-PZEV models in CA-emission states out to 10 years/150,000 miles, and it is NOT pro-rated but a full coverage.) * you do not plug it in (charges off of the gasoline engine and recapurted kinetic energy while braking) Cons: * slightly higher initial purchase price * own a neat techy car (should you need unscheduled maintenance (break down), you're mainly stuck paying dealer rates) * many ill-informed people stopping you and asking questions about your car, telling you untruths about your own car, or even telling you how stupid you were for buying it... * you cannot plug it in I've never seen anyone do a cost-benefit analysis for a v4 vs v6 vs diesel engine, or for an upgraded sound system or leather seats or a wheel upgrade, so why do one for a hybrid drivetrain? Most cost analysis articles neglect trade-in value which the Prius does very well in maintaining. (in some areas, used Prius are still selling for new prices for availability and rising gasoline prices!). Don't forget to include federal and any state tax incentives in your calculation (Consumer Reports forgot, and had to issue a retraction that hybrids are cheaper to own/operate than their gasoline cousins). Edmunds.com still doesn't take into account the true depreciation value (as seen by manually looking for a Prius trade-in value) when calculating their TCO, but they still say that hybrids will pay for themselves even when using their lower than actual trade-in amounts: http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/08/22/bc.autos.hybrids.reut/index.html Hybrids do cost less in the long term than their conventional counterparts. (Intellichoice used a 5 year ownership comparison in 2006) See: http://www.intellichoice.com/press/Hybrid-Survey-2006 and http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/HypeOverHybrids While Consumer Reports in 2006 only found the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid would pay off within the same 5 year frame. The Honda Accord Hybrid, the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Lexus RX400h, and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid were also studied. (I'll note that there was a mathematical error in the initial publication of Consumer Reports' hybrid vehicle cost analysis, which a retraction was published later... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11637968/ ) Since this publication, many more hybrid models have become available, so I can't use this to say about hybrids "in general." The problem is that not all hybrids are created equal. There are different hybrid technologies, depending on manufacturer. Even among the same manufacturer, you can find one model tuned for performance (power and acceleration) with only a slight fuel efficiency improvement, compared to another for fuel efficiency and emissions. (See the Honda Accord Hybrid vs. Honda Civic Hybrid, or the Lexus models compared to their sister Toyota models...) There is more to vehicle ownership besides initial purchase cost and the amount of gasoline used - there is also the costs to maintain and insure it, and also depreciation costs. However, the societal costs for emissions are not usually included. The hybrids tend to be at worst an ULEV, with many an AT-PZEV. Some are only sold in CA-emissions states. (Compare that to the often suggested VW TDIs, which cannot be sold new in CA-emission states because of their poor emissions.) In the US, hybrid models tend to be the best in fuel economy in their respective classes, using the same testing procedure to compare all cars: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/best/bestworstNF.shtml Do be sure to check out the April issue of Consumer Reports if you are interested in reliability statistics (several hybrids are in the best bets). The hybrid batteries in the currently available hybrid vehicles are usually listed by the manufacturer to last the lifetime of the vehicle, and have long warranties (not pro-rated!) to cover it. So far, hybrid battery replacements are VERY uncommon, and rarely out of warranty. Pricing is much better when buying a used unit from a wrecked vehicle (much less than $1000), and not paying dealer-inflated rates/labor prices. Old battery packs are easily recycled (and Toyota even pays a $200 bounty to the owner to be sure it is recycled!). Pricing for currently available models: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqcPUrW4E4lfkQHPFVV1s7Hty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080118224804AAD3pgU Fuel economy for currently available models: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybrid_sbs.shtml (do you want a car, or a SUV, for example? what size class? Which one is the best depends on what your choosing criteria are - fuel economy, initial purchase price, towing capacity, interior size, reliability data, etc?) For reliability and model history, I'd say the Toyota Prius (best fuel economy of US vehic