Friday, September 9th, 2011
With all of the cars that are on the market, you may be thinking that there must be a car you haven’t discovered yet. You’ve heard of convertibles, Mazdas, Fords, and Buicks. And, you being an educated car-buyer, know all about hybrid cars, too. But surely, you think to yourself, there must be a more fuel-efficient car than a hybrid. If only you could find it.
This car that you believe is more fuel-efficient than a hybrid car, must be hidden in the back of a dealership behind the red, green, and yellow cars. It must be stuck between a big SUV and a van somewhere.
And what does it take to fuel this car? You don’t know the answer to that question. You barely know if this type of car exists. But there just has to be something out there better than a hybrid car. You insist that it’s true.
Well, there are a few choices for you. You could be thinking that a very small conventional car is more fuel-efficient than a hybrid car. You could be thinking that an electric car is better than a hybrid car. You could also be thinking that the dealership employees must have some cars in the back that they are creating on the spot that run on anything but gasoline and batteries. These cars, you think to yourself, would be better buys than hybrid cars.
Well, electric cars don’t get better fuel-efficiency than hybrid cars mainly because a lot of times electric cars don’t even need gas to power them, so you can’t even compare electric cars to hybrid cars.
A small conventional is definitely not more fuel-efficient than a hybrid car because no conventional car is.
And there are not any just-made cars sitting in the back somewhere. Car dealerships don’t make cars. They sell them.
But the final answer to the question is the new fuel-economy numbers that have been issued by the EPA. Those numbers conclude that the most fuel-efficient cars available to the public when looking at 2008 models are hybrid cars. Just the Toyota Prius as an example has a combined highway or city mileage of 46. This and other hybrid cars have overcome the 40 miles per gallon mark.
So, it looks like there are no new discoveries to be made at the auto dealer. And that’s a good thing. You wouldn’t want to be outdone by the Joneses because you thought you bought a great car, but you saw that they had a better, more fuel-efficient one. Nope, that’s not going to be you. Now you are armed with the knowledge that hybrid cars are the most fuel-efficient cars around and until automakers start to come up with more ideas, a hybrid car is what you have to work with.
However, advancements in fuel-efficient cars are on the horizon. Auto manufacturers are working on plug-in hybrids, battery-electric cars, and gas-engine systems that are more efficient. So look out, your dream car is coming soon. But if for now, you just buy a hybrid, you won’t regret it. if you plan to buy, consider looking for fast cash loans, to your finance partner.
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Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Hybrid Cars: How the Battery System Works
Hybrid cars are one of the latest innovations in the auto industry today. It made it possible for people to save a lot of money from the rising cost of fuel and also made it possible for everyone using a hybrid car to help in conserving the cleanliness of the environment. With a hybrid car, you will save a lot of money from the constantly rising gasoline prices and at the same time, help in lessening the pollution level.
Hybrid cars today are getting more and more popular. In fact, more and more people are now considering to get rid of their gas-guzzling conventional car and purchase a hybrid car which they can benefit more from. However, not all people can really see the benefits of hybrid cars. Some people think that hybrid cars tend to be more expensive than conventional cars. But what they don’t see is the long term benefits that a hybrid car can offer.
If you compare hybrid cars to conventional cars, you will see that once you compute the total amount of gasoline you have to use during the car’s lifetime, you will save more on the hybrid car even if it is more expensive in the retail price department.
As you can clearly see, hybrid cars is much more fuel efficient than conventional cars. You may now ask how it works and how hybrid cars are able to achieve fuel efficiency than conventional cars.
First of all, hybrid cars are what you can describe as a cross between a conventional gasoline-powered car and an electric-powered car. It uses both energy sources to run the car and has two engines. One is the gasoline engine and the other is the electricity engine. Hybrid cars operate on fuel when it is running and it runs on electricity when it is idle.
For example, imagine starting up your car in your garage and you forgot something inside your home. Because the car is running idle it will automatically switch off the gasoline engine and activate the electric engine to run your car. After 30 minutes of looking, you finally found that important thing you forgot. During those 30 minutes, you will save gasoline because your car is running on electricity. It will switch back to the gasoline engine once you stepped on the accelerator pedal.
There are two main kinds of hybrid cars existing today. One is the parallel hybrid car and the other is the series hybrid car. In parallel hybrid cars, both the electric motor and batteries, and the gasoline engine are connected to the transmission. This means that both motors will be able to run the car independently and can provide propulsion power.
In the series hybrid car, the gasoline is not connected to the transmission. It is only connected to the generator to charge the battery or to power the electric motor to provide propulsion.
The batteries in hybrid cars are the energy storage device for the electric motors. In hybrid cars, the electric motor is able to draw power from the batteries as well as put energy into them. This means that when the electric motor is running, it can continually recharge the batteries inside the hybrid car.
Today, a hybrid car’s batteries are able to recover power when the brakes are applied. It can also recharge energy generated by the motor.
With all of these benefits, hybrid cars are the cars of the future. It can efficiently save fuel, it can run quietly, it has low toxic fume emissions, and it can also save you a lot of money from huge tax breaks for hybrid car buyers.
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Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
A Cheaper Alternative
Because of the constant increase in fuel prices, many people are now considering getting rid of their gas guzzling conventional car and are now purchasing a cheaper alternative. Some people purchase cars with smaller engines for fuel efficiency and some people are now thinking of purchasing the car with the latest technology that enables them to cut fuel consumption by half.
These cars are called plug-in hybrid cars. With this car, you will be able to cut fuel consumption by more than half by taking advantage of the hybrid technology that many car manufacturers are now integrating in their new car models. Although plug in hybrid cars have existed for quite some time now, it was only about a few years ago that it was released in the market.
Plug-in hybrid cars are cars that combine the gasoline energy and the electric energy to run or to propel the car. Plug-in hybrid cars will enable you to run your car up to a hundred miles per gallon depending on the engine and the battery installed.
If you think that getting a good mileage per gallon is non existent, think again. With the technology being integrated by car manufacturers in their hybrid vehicles, it is now possible. This vehicle has two engines to run your car. One is the gasoline engine and the other is the electric motor. Just imagine a car that has an extension cord that you can plug-in in your home electricity outlet to recharge. You don’t even to worry about the cost of your electric bill because the recharging will just be equal to less than a dollar per gallon.
Just imagine a car that has two fuel sources. If one runs out, the car will still be able to run. You don’t have to plug in your plug-in hybrid car but if you do, your vehicle becomes an electric vehicle that will be able to run quietly, cleaner, cheaper and more efficient than conventional gasoline powered cars. You have to consider that the gasoline tanks are there for long driving purposes.
However, when you are only driving locally, you don’t need to fill your car with gasoline. All you need to do is plug-in your car to your home’s electric outlet and once it is fully charged, your car will be ready to go using the electric motor.
Imagine the savings that you can get with a plug-in hybrid car.
However, these things are not the only benefits that you can get with plug-in hybrid cars. You will be shocked once you find out about the other benefits that you can get with a hybrid car. If you have a hybrid car, the service cost will tend to be lower because it is mainly electric.
Another great thing about plug-in hybrid cars is that it will be able to power your home in case of power outage. It can act as an electricity generator.
Recently, tax incentives have been imposed by the government to hybrid car buyers. This means that as a buyer of a plug-in hybrid car, you will be able to enjoy tax breaks.
You will also help improve the condition of the environment because it runs on the cleanest energy source available, which is electricity. This means that the car will produce no toxic emissions when it is running on electricity. Also, when it runs on gasoline, the emissions are also very low because of the small size of the gasoline engine.
These are some of the benefits that you can get with plug-in hybrid cars. So, if you think that you are spending too much on gasoline for your gas-guzzling conventional vehicle, you can start saving money by getting a plug-in hybrid car.
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Friday, April 23rd, 2010
Price. One of the biggest issues of people who want to buy a hybrid car is the price. Buying a hybrid car can cost you several thousand dollars more than its gasoline-engine counterpart. The cheapest hybrid is around $20,000 while the luxury models are well over $100,000. It is predicted that the cost of hybrid vehicles will go down in the coming years as the production cost will decrease and the supply will increase.
Fuel Economy. A hybrid car is known for fuel economy. In fact, if you drive a hybrid, you can save as much as 60% on fuel. A fuel-efficient hybrid car can run from 35 to 50 miles on a gallon. However, high end hybrid models such as Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and those from Lexus that are built for performance still offer relatively good fuel economy.
Vehicle Option. Hybrid car models are very limited today. If you can’t live by the available options, you can wait a year or two as many manufacturers have announced the release of newer hybrid cars.
Maintenance Cost. With a more complicated internal structure, the common belief is that hybrid cars are more expensive to maintain. The fact is, maintenance cost for hybrid cars is comparable to conventional vehicles. Many also fear that the battery replacement is very expensive. While the cost of battery replacement is said to be between $2,000 and $5,000, there has yet to be a report of a battery needing to be replaced due to defect or malfunction.
Safety. Hybrid cars are in general, as safe as conventional cars but there is a concern that electric shock can happen. This is a possibility but hybrid cars have been around for 10 years and there are no reports of this incident.
Luxury and Convenience. Since the price of a hybrid car is 25% to 50% higher than its gasoline counterparts, most hybrids are upscale and involve the latest gadgetry and luxury amenities.
Interior Space. Hybrid has almost become synonymous with the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. As a result the word “hybrid” is perceived as cars with small interior space and the use of electric motors and gasoline engines. While the latter is true, the former is not entirely accurate.
Since the first release of the Prius, the market has seen several hybrid cars with more interior space. The Honda has Civic and Accord (discontinued) have a good interior space. So with Toyota’s Camry, Highlander (SUV), and second generation Prius (midsize), Ford Escape hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid among others.
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Monday, April 12th, 2010
Most hybrid cars are made for fuel efficiency but you can further squeeze extra miles out of a gallon of gasoline buy adapting the same good driving habits you do in your gasoline-engine vehicles.
1. Go easy on the brakes. Your hybrid car has the regenerative braking system that recaptures the energy lost from braking and stores it back to your batteries. If you brake slowly, you give your electric motor more time to store power thus, recovering more energy back to the batteries. If you brake hard and abrupt, the regenerative braking system will not be able to recapture much of this energy and your brakes will take most of the work.
2. Drive at slow speed. When you drive at a slow speed, you are running the electric motor. This saves a lot of gas. Also high speed driving requires your engine to produce extra power to drive the car forward and push it through the air. This consumes more gas just to overcome the aerodynamic drag. (Take note: the air is much denser on snowy, rainy, and slushy conditions. This makes the engine consumes more fuel to push the vehicle through the air.)
3. Avoid quick acceleration. The electric motor can only give your car a certain amount of power. When you require more speed and step on the gas pedal, the combustion engine kicks in to provide that extra speed you need, thus consuming more fuel. Quick acceleration in gasoline- or diesel-engine car wastes a lot of energy and so with hybrid vehicles. If you need to accelerate, do it gradually if possible.
4. Check your tire pressure. Tires are made to improve safety and the quality of the ride. It is not actually made for efficiency but you can actually use the tire to significantly improve your gas mileage. Use and maintain the maximum recommended tire pressure for your car on the sidewall and not the psi supplied by the manufacturer on the doorframe. Also use low-resistance tires for better mileage.
5. Avoid rush hour. Stop-and-go traffic consumes a lot of gas.
6. Use low octane gasoline. Not only it is cheaper, vehicles are actually designed to run well on low octane gas. Check your manual.
7. Glide. If you are comfortable with driving back and forth to neutral, you can get the best out of your speed. Coasting in neutral gives you a longer cruise and better use of energy.
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Friday, April 9th, 2010
Hybrid cars can run from 20mpg to 60mpg. How do they do it? Aside from using both the electric motor and combustion engine to draw propulsion, hybrid cars have several tricks to squeeze every mile out of each gallon of gasoline. Hybrid electric vehicles have:
Lightweight materials. One of the surest ways to increase the mileage of the car is to reduce its overall weight. The lighter the car is, the higher the fuel mileage will be. So instead of steel, lightweight materials such as magnesium and aluminum or composite materials like carbon fibers are used for hybrid vehicles.
Smaller engine. The weight of the car is directly related to its fuel consumption. And because larger engines are relatively heavier, they require more energy just to propel their own weight, thus consuming more fuel. Also big engines have large cylinder displacement that requires more fuel just to stop.
Since hybrid vehicles utilize other sources of power, they do not require large engines. Instead, the smaller and lighter engine equates to better fuel mileage. The Honda Civic Hybrid, for example uses a 1.3 L iVTEC 4-cylinder engine as opposed to the typical 1.8 L or 2.0 L engine for the non-hybrid counterpart.
Improved aerodynamics. When you are driving at a high speed, most work of the engine goes into pushing the car through the air. Hybrid cars are designed in such away that its frontal area chops through the air, reducing drag and increasing fuel economy. The Honda Insight is the best example of how a car can increase its fuel mileage by using a smoother aerodynamic design.
Energy conservation. Since hybrid cars do not rely solely on internal combustion engines that run continuously even at stops, they can shut off the engine temporarily whenever do not need it. It will automatically turn on when you step on the gas pedal.
Energy recovery. Much of the energy is lost when braking, more so at high speeds. Hybrid vehicles are designed to recapture this lost energy and store it back in the battery to be used later.
Special tires. Tires are specifically used to minimize noise, provide a smooth ride, and give good traction in different weather conditions. But tires are rarely used to optimize efficiency. They cause a great deal of drag while driving. Hybrid cars on the other hand use low-rolling resistance tires. They are inflated to a higher air pressure and are stiffer which result in reduced drag and better fuel efficiency.
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