Hybrid Cars - Fast Becoming The People's Choice

Buying a new car is a big and pricey decision for most people, and on top of that, the ever rising oil prices make it an even more expensive proposition to maintain and run your own car. With unstable oil prices, which keep shifting with the war, the gold, politics or the rains, it is not strange that the market is eager to be offered more fuel-efficient cars. As if this is not enough, our conscience is now being totally badgered day in and day out, by the awareness that the large scale use of fossil fuels like gasoline, oil etc. is making the environment go kaput. Throwing away the gasoline powered engines would perhaps be easy on our scruples. But is the answer so simple?

Rising out of the need, to find an answer to this question mark and for a solution to the looming oil crisis is a new breed of cars, which combines the best features of electric cars with that of the conventional gasoline, powered ones. These types of cars are called hybrid cars, and you are likely to hear a great deal about them in the near future.

More than Just an Electric Car

At the first go, the electric car sounds like a great idea since it has no emissions while it runs. However, this is only partially true as the total emissions depend on how the electricity to be used is produced. If it comes from a coal plant for example, it isn't very clean after all said and done. Furthermore, the storage of large amounts of electricity is problematic at best and in practice, turns electric cars to pure bred city cars-at least with the ways we currently store electricity.

Hybrid cars merge an electric engine with a gasoline powered one. It means that although the use of gasoline can not be abridged to completely zero levels, it can still be greatly reduced. The twin engines also allow for smaller engines to be used and take advantage of things like regenerative breaking. Also, as a direct result of the need to reduce the energy needed to run them, the hybrid cars are extremely lightweight and aerodynamically well designed. In slow traffic, the conventional engine automatically shuts off, producing no emissions whatsoever. When more speed and power is needed, the conventional engine is allowed to seamlessly kick in partially or fully.

Hybrid cars are here to stay because it protects environment

In this domain, the Japanese have taken the lead by developing attractive looking hybrid vehicles, such as the hybrid powered Honda Accord and Toyota Prius. Contrary to what one might hear, these cars have got on very well in the market as the idea of saving on gas is clearly appealing to many people. Most well established North American manufacturers are also expected to jump on the bandwagon of this new idea very soon. Those who have already launched hybrid-powered version of some of their models include- Ford, Chevrolet and Mercury.

As this is a rapidly growing market, many of these cars can be expected to appear more commonly at local car dealers. Because this is considered an innovative technology, one can expect the initial prices to be on the higher side. But then again, a hybrid car will mean considerable savings on gas expenses. No doubt, the competition will be quite severe so it will be fascinating to see how the pricing of these cars develops during the next few years.

The best thing for Mother Nature would be to wipe gas fumes out of the picture completely; and bringing us a step closer to this are the hybrid cars. They represent one of the best alternatives for automobile purchase right now- combining the cleanliness of the electric engine with the mileage of a conventional combustion engine. Rather than the eccentric, they represent innovation; rather than the anarchic, they signal revolution. Hybrid cars are here now- and here to stay.

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