How Do Hybrid Cars Work?

One of the biggest and fastest growing trends in the United States auto industry today is the building and development of hybrid cars and SUVs. These vehicles can give you gas mileage that far outcompete other vehicles with traditional gas powered engines and even some of the most fuel efficient diesel powered cars. On average, hybrid cars can get you around 50 miles per gallon on highways and up to 40 miles per gallon for city driving. To give you an idea about how much more efficient these vehicles are, the best cars out here might be able to give you 30 miles per gallon on the highway. If both cars have a modest 12 gallon tank, that's around a 240 mile per tank difference!

But how does a hybrid car work? The first thing to understand is that a hybrid vehicle is not an electric car. It still runs on gasoline like any other vehicle. But the secret of the hybrid car is that it uses two different types of motors in order to give the car enough power to move; hence the name 'hybrid' car. The second motor in the car is a motor completely powered by batteries and electricity.

The reason a hybrid car can get such great mileage is that they two different types of motors work together in order to create the most fuel efficient mode of transportation. For instance, one of the most taxing actions a car can do is to accelerate. That's why city driving creates such poor gas mileage. It takes a lot of energy to propel a car forward, so hybrid cars allow the electric motor to do the job. This means that you are not wasting gas on constantly accelerating. The gas motor then takes over during periods where you are cruising at a consistent speed such as highway driving. This type of driving doesn't require a great deal of energy to keep the car in motion, so it uses very little gas keeping your gas mileage extremely low.

And you don't ever have to worry about your batteries running out either. Car manufacturers have discovered brilliant ways to channel energy back into the batteries in order to keep them charged. One of the ways is to transfer the heat you create while breaking into energy that helps to power the electric motor. And while the gas motor is running it can slowly charge the batteries. So while hybrid cars are not the solution to our energy problems, they truly are a step in the right direction.