Hybrid Cars

Ever wonder how hybrids work?  The answer to that question is about as broad as one can imagine.  There really is no on answer to that question.  This is due to a few different reasons.  Hybrid technology is just that, a technology.  The science and procedures involved in hybrids is still advancing.  As previously stated, hybrid technology has been around since the 1800’s.   However, due to a cost issue, those hybrids were put on the wayside.  In fact, they were not that much different than some of the ones appearing in today’s society.  There are three main types that people will see, two of which are coming into their own as a more prominent type of hybrid.  The most prominent type is the internal combustion/electric motor hybrid.  Next in line is the all electric car, and finally there is the hydrogen car.

            The electric motor combined with internal combustion motor is the most common hybrid on the market.  Cars such as the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius both employ this technology (Rockhold).  The easiest way to explain how these cars work is to know that the battery/electric motor is used to turn the car on as well as to get the car moving (Yost).  If one were to turn on a hybrid, they would notice something significantly different than if they would have turned on a typical gasoline engine.  What they would notice is sound, or in this case, a lack there of.  Once the car is moving, the ECU sends a signal for the internal combustion motor to activate and take over for the electric motor.  One may ask, “Well where does the electric motor get its power from?”  The electric motor is drawing from a rather large rechargeable battery (Yost).  Since getting the car moving requires a rather large amount of power, there has to be a way to recharge said battery so that it may be used time and time again, especially in city driving.  There is a way, and it is rather ingenious.  There are two main ways that are used; these are through braking and via the combustion engine (Yost).  The way braking is used is through physics.  The science behind it is very simple and effective.  Friction is a force in physics that can, and does create heat.  The heat that is created is form of energy which is then transferred back to the battery.  The other way the battery recharges is via the internal combustion engine.  It works like it does on ordinary combustion engine cars.  The alternator serves the purpose of recharging the battery via a pulley system.  Due to the fact that the internal combustion motor has many moving parts, this alternator takes the motion and energy from the motor and turns it into electrical current that the battery stores.  This form of hybrid is the most common and probably the most simplistic to use and maintain.

            The hydrogen powered car may have seemed like myth for many people.  Truth of the matter is that the hydrogen powered car is not a myth, and in fact, a fully functioning vehicle.  One may ask, “Well where can I get my hydrogen car?”  The answer to this question is not as simple.  Hydrogen cars are not yet for sale to the mass economy.  Many companies such as GM, Chrysler, Ford, and Mercedes, among others, are testing their concept cars on a limited basis.  The main reason for this being that it is a fairly new technology, as well as a lack of hydrogen fueling stations.  PEM, or Proton Exchange Membrane, is what is commonly referred to as the fuel cell (Hydrogen fuel).  Hydrogen is held in a pressurized state and when combined with oxygen from the air, electricity is created with water as a byproduct.  Due to recent advancements, fuel cells are now the size of a small suitcase with enough power to move a vehicle (Hydrogen fuel).  There are quite a few unanswered questions about these cars.  The first of which being that nobody knows how reliable these cars are (Hydrogen).  Hydrogen hasn’t been used long enough to see any real reliability issues.  In addition, the technology and materials required to build such a car are extremely expensive at this point which would fall upon the buyer.  There is hope however.  Hydrogen cars are over twice as efficient as gasoline engines (Hydrogen).  The hope is that one day, hydrogen cars will be able to replace the gasoline cars, erasing our dependency on oil as well as cleaning up the atmosphere.

            Electric powered cars are somewhat new.  Similar to hydrogen cars in the fact that they are not available for the general public, electric cars are sweeping the automotive world with hopes of achieving a new means of alternative fuel.  The electric cars are just what the name implies.  Running on battery power, the car employs an electric motor to accelerate the car Carr-Ruffino, Acheson).  The way to recharge the power supply, a battery, is not as simple as it is with the hybrid car (Bullis).  Since the electric motor is being used constantly, it is harder to recharge it while driving.  The way to recharge this car is through your house outlets. 

These cars come with a recharging station when purchasing a car.  The same thing applies with these as it does with the hydrogen car.  These cars are on a small production scale due to there being a lot of issues to work out.  There are a few drawbacks with such a car.  The two large problems affecting the electric car are power as well as range (Availability).  The electric car is meant to conserve energy and produce the best traveling efficiency possible.  This concept is cause for the car to produce low power which in turn, may lead to slower acceleration up hills.  This may not seem like a large problem, but the extra energy required drains the battery quicker.  After repeated cycles of usage, the battery may die and leave the owner stranded.  It is not as if they can walk to the nearest gas station and buy a pack of AA batteries and drive home safely.  The other issue with these cars is that of range.  They are limited by how much energy the battery can hold and by how much energy the engine uses.  Due to this, an electric car is not ideal for long trips because it requires a charge to continue moving.  For city driving however, the electric car may be the new automobile of choice for many.  Even though there are a very limited number of electric cars for sale, companies are coming out with conversion kits.  These kits are very costly, some as pricey as $7,000 or more (Bullis).  Is it really worth the ten miles per gallon more?