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Home > Advanced Green Steps > Green Cars > Full Hybrid Cars |
Hybrid cars use a combination of an electric motor and a traditional (internal combustion) engine to power the vehicle. There are three types of hybrid cars; Mild Hybrid, Full Hybrid, and Plug-In Hybrid.
Full hybrid cars are unique because they can run using just battery power without using the traditional engine. This makes them more fuel efficient than a mild hybrid. The electric motor is used at low speeds, where the electric motor is much more efficient than the gas-powered engine. It also means that the gas engine doesn't idle when the car is stopped. The result is a highly efficient vehicle for city driving.
The mileage for full hybrids are much better than non-hybrid cars. Here are some examples of mid-sized cars to compare the mileage:
see government fuel consumption ratings for ratings on all vehicles.
The key benefit of Full Hybrid cars is that they generate significantly less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than other vehicles. That means they are better for the environment. Considering that travel makes up the largest portion of the average persons carbon footprint, a full hybrid car can make a large reduction in your impact on the environment. For example, the difference in annual fuel consumption for a Ford Fusion Full Hybrid versus a Ford Fusion (3 Litre V6) is almost half. That means a carbon footprint that is almost half of the non-hybrid version.
Some people state that full hybrid cars save you money on gas, but the only way to show that is to compare the purchase price of two cars and the fuel costs over the lifetime of the vehicle. There is no easy way to make a general statement like that, so you will have to do the math for your specific situation. Don't forget about government incentives too - they help reduce the purchase price of hybrids.
The Toyota Prius is the most well known full hybrid car. It has been in production since the late 1990s. Another example of a full hybrid is the Ford Escape Hybrid, which is an exception to most hybrids, in the fact that it is an SUV. Most hybrids are light vehicles as they require less energy to move.
The batteries in hybrids need to get recharged. This can be done in several ways. The first is to use regenerative breaking. When slowing down, or stopping a car, the momentum of the car is slowed down using break pads. Regenerative breaks capture the energy (kinetic energy) that is normally lost when breaking. This energy is then transferred to the batteries that run the electric motor
Another way the batteries get recharges are from the gas engine during normal driving. When the engine is not in high demand, the additional energy will be captured in the batteries. A good example of this is when the car is travelling down a steep hill, the engine transfers its power to the batteries while it is not being used to move the vehicle.