A Look At How Hybrid Cars Work

By Anton Rowd

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) also known as the hybrid car is quite the economic wonder. Even as a work in constant progress, the Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology has truly done a lot to improve the gas-dependence situation. Hybrid cars has also saved consumers from having to spend so much on fossil fuels and has even helped save some taxpayer money.

So what is it under the hood that is creating all these wondrous things that seem to improve the lifestyle of the average consumer? Let's take a look at how hybrid cars work.

The secret is in the term, "hybrid." A hybrid car basically just brings out and maximizes all that fuel economy and consumption and electrical power can do together. By putting together both a gas engine and an electrical motor, the combination permits the car to go back and forth between the energy sources. The usual case in a hybrid car though is that it really depends basically on the battery and electrical motors to run the whole vehicle.

You may ask what the gas is for. The car will still need gas to operate an engine that charges the battery which, in turn, runs the whole car. However, the good thing about this set up is that not much gas is required to charge up those batteries. Hence, hybrid cars really only need so much gas to fill their significantly smaller gas tanks and therefore saves people from having to cash out so much on gas.

To fully comprehend and appreciate how a hybrid car works, a spin in one with a full tank to compare results in terms of mileage and distance would be required. Definitely, you will see a lot of difference in vehicles running on electric motors. Going long distances is achieved in the way how a hybrid car operates. Generally-speaking, there are 3 technologies that allows this to happen.

The first innovative technology used in hybrid cars is the regenerative braking that applies resistance to the drive train. This in turn causes the wheels to slow down. The energy from the wheels turns the engine which in real time acts as generator which converts the energy wasted during coasting and braking into electricity. The electricity is then accumulated in a battery until such time when it is needed by other functions in the electric motor.

The next hybrid car technology used is the elect motor assist which gives additional power to aid the motor in acceleration like in speeding up or ascending higher terrains. This simply means that the smaller engine or electric motor is used. This motor is more efficient that the internal combustion engine that needs and uses up more gas.

Another hybrid car technology that is beginning to pick up in a lot of modern hybrid car is the automatic start and shutdown. This technology allows a hybrid vehicle to stop in the middle of traffic or at a stoplight, thus, shutting down the whole engine as well, ultimately preventing the engine from wasting energy and fuel from just being idle. When the accelerator is stepped on again, the engine will start up automatically and acceleration is made available. It's a clever option that is ideal for city driving. When combined, these three technologies spell how hybrid cars work.

source:Ezine Articles