Hybrid Cars

Trolley buses, based on an electric charge being provided by overhead electricity lines, have been used in cities commercially for many years, some of the earlier models being a common sight on the streets of Portsmouth, UK since the 1930s and only taken out of service in the 1960s. Trolley buses are still a common sight along the Promenade in Blackpool, UK. Hybrid is an amalgam, or a mixture of more than one source and this is just as true of the ordinary motor car than is generally thought. When a hybrid car is discussed it is naturally considered to be some of the latest technology but from the first days of the ‘horseless carriage’ the motor car has always been hybrid. It features a source of petroleum gas as fuel to feed the engine and it requires a battery to maintain an electric charge to start the engine and to run the car’s electrics.

Towards the end of the 20th century an alternative to the traditional engine was developed, utilising two kinds of power for energy, as in gas to power the engine and batteries to provide a boost of power, often double the source of just a conventional engine alone. The Toyota Prius Hybrid became the first commercial hybrid car, produced in Japan in 1997. It later went into global production in 2001, followed by models produced by GM, Ford and Honda which also featured some adaptation of the hybrid concept. Hybrid cars are thought to be cheaper to run and more cost effective than cars with conventional engines only.

There is less pollution associated with the hybrid cars and because they burn less fossil fuel, tax breaks and other incentives are offered due to them reducing environmental pollution on city streets. A bank of batteries and a conventional engine are the power behind the most basic hybrid car but, going a step further, some more innovative hybrid cars actually regenerate captured energy as their depository of batteries are recharged every time they brake. The energy is generated from the friction of the brake being applied and is known as regenerative braking.

These new generation hybrids can easily switch between gas and battery power as required, with the energy from regenerative braking being stored in the cache of batteries before being released. Some hybrid cars have been developed to use both sources of power simultaneously. Other cars are truly hybrid, being first produced by GM. These hybrid cars are able to be plugged into the mains at night to recharge their batteries. Batteries in these cars can power the hybrid cars for up to 150 miles before the smaller gas engine kicks in with the conventional engine. In order to promote sustainability, a hydrogen hybrid car is an alternative solution and ideal green energy resolution. Whichever way the hybrid car is developed, less emissions are generated than a conventional gas engine.