The Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is quite the technological wonder. As a work in progress, the Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology has done much to improve the gas-dependence situation and has saved several households and individuals from having to spend so much on fossil fuels.
What is it under the hybrid car hood that is creating all these raving reviews that seem to take consumers by the neck and lead them to their nearest hybrid car dealer? Let's try to take a look at just how hybrid cars work.
The Combination
The keyword in all of this is the word "hybrid." An HEV basically brings out the best in both electrical power and fuel. By incorporating both an electrical motor and a gas engine, it allows the vehicle to switch back and forth between energy sources. Of course, the usual case is that the car really depends solely on the battery and electrical motors to run the vehicle.
What is the gas for? The engine will still require fuel to run a motor that charges the battery. In turn, this motor charged by the engine runs the whole car. However, the beauty of this set up is that only a minimum amount of fuel is needed to charge up those batteries. Hybrid cars only need so much fuel to fill their relatively smaller gas tanks, thus, saving people from having to spend so much money on their gas.
Go The Distance
In order to actually see how a hybrid car works, one would have to take one for a spin on a full tank and compare the results in mileage with a car that runs only on gas. One will definitely see the huge difference in cars dependent on electric motors. Going a great distance is achieved by the way the hybrid works. There are 3 essential technologies that allow this to happen.
The first technology in hybrid cars is known as the regenerative braking. This includes an electric engine that applies resistance to the drive train which, in turn, causes the wheels to stop or to slow down. The energy from the wheels turns the engine which in real time acts as a generator and transforms the energy wasted during coasting and braking into electricity. This electricity is then reserved and stored in the battery until it is required 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.
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