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The Hybrid Car and its History
November 1st, 2009 by Colin Jones, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
Just where did a hybrid car get it’s beginnings? Read on to find out. Hybrid cars are very popular to today’s car buyers and there are many reasons why that should be. But before you even think about choosing a hybrid car to purchase, you might want to know a little bit about the history of the hybrid first.
Surprisingly, hybrid cars were around even before gas-powered cars. Back in about the year 1665, a Jesuit priest by the name of Ferdinand Verbeist began plans for a certain type of vehicle. That vehicle would be very simple, nothing complex, or intricate. Simple was all he wanted.
So Ferdinand designed a car that would have four wheels and would run only on steam. It took about fifteen years of work for Ferdinand to go through with his plan. He laboured to perfect his dream car. But no one knows if he ever finished because there is no evidence that his concept ever came into existence.
Then in 1769, a man with the name of Nicholas Cugnot designed and developed a carriage that was driven by steam. This carriage really did go and it went at six miles per hour. This project was great, but it was difficult to get the amount of steam needed to allow the car to go any significant distance.
A break through in hybrid car development finally came when Robert Anderson developed an electric powered car in 1839. It was the first among its kind. The car was built in Scotland.
This model electric car was a highly applauded innovation of its time. However, the only problem was that it was very difficult to replenish the car’s battery. Some pioneers did come after Anderson, but they had the same problem of getting the battery recharged easily.
Finally in the year 1898 Porsche manufactured an electric and fuel combustion engine that was the first of its time. The car was called the Lohner Electric Chaise, and it could go up to 40 miles just using batteries.
Soon pioneers combined both a gas and a battery powered engine to power what would become today’s hybrid car. In 1999, Honda made a leap into the US market. It came out with the Insight. This was a lightweight two-door hybrid. Since then, hybrid cars have just been evolving and improving into what you see on the markets today. Hybrid cars are not just for techies who think it’s cool to combine battery and fuel power to get them where they need to go. Hybrid cars started out simple, and they are still simple today.
Now hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular as people understand them more. Hybrid cars in the 21st century saw a boom in sales when the Toyota Prius came out on the market. It was the first hybrid with four doors that was marketed in America.
Soon after, the Ford Escape hybrid became the very first SUV hybrid ever made. So there it is in a nutshell, the history of the hybrid car – today’s modern auto.
If you are interested in the working parts of New Hybrid Vehicles, please visit our website on http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com
Hybrid Cars vs. Plug-in Hybrid Cars
September 6th, 2009 by Colin Jones, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
Hybrid cars are on everyone’s lips. Twenty, forty, or fifty dollars for a full tank of fuel? Who in their right mind wants to pay that sort of money? However, frustrated, the gas consumer sighs, but pays up. However, hybrid vehicles are applauded for the small amount of gas they need to operate, and they are being driven off the lots of car dealerships each and everyday in increasing numbers.
So, what about a plug-in hybrid? Most consumers have heard that these vehicles are great as well. So, a person might be asking him or herself, what exactly a plug-in hybrid is? How they work, and what the difference between a plug-in hybrid and a regular hybrid is?
Plug-in hybrid cars are able to run just on batteries, but they can also run on gas also. These kinds of hybrid cars share some of the characteristics of hybrid vehicles. They are also very similar to all-electric vehicles.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles need to be recharged externally by connecting a plug to an electrical power source. The combustion engine in plug-in hybrid vehicles is engaged only as a back up. These cars can run only on batteries if desired, but it is expected that these types of hybrid cars be plugged in every day.
Hybrid cars travel just as many miles as a conventional car. Designed to go the extra mile where gas-mileage is concerned, hybrids can be driven on the highway, in cities, or wherever else anybody wants to go.
On the other hand, plug-in hybrids are meant to handle commuter-length distances, meaning between twenty and sixty miles. Used in this way, the plug-in hybrid does not have to make use of its back up combustion engine, but plug-in hybrids can go further using fuel as well.
Hybrids help to minimize pollution, but they still pollute the air. Compared with plug-in hybrids, hybrid cars still have a long way to go where pollution is concerned. Since plug-in hybrid cars can run solely on their battery power, they don’t have to emit waste fuel emissions. That means that plug-in hybrids don’t have to pollute the air.
Plug-in hybrids actually do reduce total greenhouse gas emissions and plug-in hybrids use practically no oil at all, imported or not. Studies have shown that electric hybrids emit at least 67% less greenhouse gases than diesel cars. Since the electric used to power plug-in hybrids is completely renewable, the difference in greenhouse gas emissions may be even greater than the study indicated.
And so there you have it. Those are the main differences between plug-in hybrids and regular hybrid cars. It makes a big difference, but you would be surprised how little that matters at the current moment. And that’s only because plug-in hybrids are not being marketed to consumers at this present time. But this article should get you excited about the wonderful plug-in hybrid car, coming soon to a dealership near you.
And it’s going to be a spectacular debut too. People already really like regular hybrid cars, but they haven’t seen anything until they see the new plug-in hybrid cars. However, for now, maybe they should just be satisfied with what they have, because who knows? Before plug-in hybrid cars come out, something even better might be introduced onto the market.
If you are interested in the working parts of New Hybrid Vehicles, just visit our website at http://new-hybrid-vehicles.com