Hybrid Cars

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Introduction A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that is powered by two or more power sources to move the vehicle (Lampton 2009). Among the types of power sources are electricity, petrol, and hydrogen gas. As of 2011, the world’s best selling hybrid, the Toyota Prius, on sale since 1997 has sold over 3 million units worldwide. Sales of other hybrids are also picking up. (Schwartz 2011) There are 3 different power trains that are used by production hybrids. Only 12% of survey respondents knew this (Personal Survey 2012). The parallel hybrid system involves an internal combustion engine and an electric motor that assists the engine to provide torque and power for the vehicle to move using a power splitter, a set of gears (Nice & Layton 2000). Since the electric motor used is small, these hybrids cannot be solely powered by the motor. In series-parallel hybrids, there is an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. The power generated by both sources can be used to drive the wheels or charge the batteries. The vehicle can be powered solely by the electric motor or the internal combustion engine or even both simultaneously (Nice & Layton 2000). In a series hybrid vehicle, the vehicle is driven by the electric motor only without mechanical connections to the internal combustion engine, which only recharges the battery that powers the vehicle when the battery charge is low (Wu 1995). This system was invented by Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of Porsche, in 1900 (Lampton 2009). Advantages The first advantage is hybrid vehicles use less fuel than their petrol counterparts. This is because hybrids have an additional electric motor to help power the vehicle and reduce the strain on the engine, besides being able to shut down the... ... middle of paper ... ...owStuffWorks, 8 July, http://www.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/hybrid-battery- cost.htm, accessed 20 February 2012. Ransom, K 2008, ‘Reasons to buy a hybrid-or not’, CNN Living, 28 January, http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-28/living/buy.hybrid_1_hybrid-vehicles-fuel-costs-bill- reinert?_S=PM:LIVING, accessed 20 February 2012. Schwartz, A 2011, ‘EVs Gain Traction as Toyota Prius Sales hit 3 million’, Fast Company, 9 March, http:// http://www.fastcompany.com/1736964/why-it-matters-that-three- million-toyota-priuss-have-been-sold, accessed 4 March 2012. Wu, C 1995, ‘Hybrid Cars’, Science News, vol. 148, no. 15, pp 232-233, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4018244, accessed 30 March 2012. Car fuel data, CO2 and vehicle tax tools, 2012, Directgov, Department for Transport, United Kingdom, http://carfueldata.direct.gov.uk/, accessed 30 March 2012.

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