Hybrid Cars
Have you been at the gas pump lately and been shocked by the high price of gasoline?
As the pump clicked past $30, $40 or even $50, maybe you thought about trading in your car for something that gets better mileage? Or maybe you’re worried that your car is contributing to the greenhouse effect?
In comes the Hybrid car.
A hybrid car is a passenger vehicle that is driven by a hybrid engine, which is any engine that combines two or more sources of power, generally gasoline and electricity. There are two types of gasoline-electric hybrid cars; the parallel hybrid, and the series hybrid. Both use gasoline-electric hybrid technology, but in radically different ways. Insurance for a Hybrid car can also be more favorable than a solely gasoline powered car.
In a parallel hybrid car, a gasoline engine and an electric motor work together to move the car, while in a series hybrid, the gasoline engine either directly powers an electric motor that powers the vehicle, or charges batteries that will power the motor. Both types of hybrids also use a process called regenerative braking to store the kinetic energy generated by brake use in the batteries, which will in turn power the electric motor.
Both parallel and series hybrids have small gasoline engines, and produce much less pollution than standard gasoline cars, but also produce much less power – hybrids generally produce between 60-90 horsepower, while the average gasoline engine probably produces about double that. To overcome this power gap, hybrid cars are constructed with ultra lightweight materials like carbon fiber or aluminum. Hybrid cars are also designed to be more aerodynamic than most cars, thus increasing fuel economy due to less wind resistance.
All these factors combined equate to a super efficient form of car that gets excellent fuel economy and helps the environment by cutting down on pollution. Generally Hybrid cars are more expensive than your traditional gasoline powered car. BMW, Honda and Toyota are three companies that produce Hybrid cars so for more specific informatio, check out their websites.
To check insurance rates for Hybrid cars, go here for a free quote. It takes less than 5 minutes!