A hybrid car is a vehicle that uses two or even more distinct sources of power in order to get propelled. Among the power sources for a hybrid car there are gasoline or diesel fuel, on-board or out-board rechargeable energy storage systems (RESS), hydrogen, wind, compressed or liquid natural gas, solar, coal, wood or other solid combustibles, etc. The term hybrid car/vehicle is used most frequently to refer to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in which an internal combustion engine is combined with one or more electric motors.

As mentioned above, there are other hybrid vehicles beside the hybrid car we will mainly deal with here. Just think of mopeds and electric bicycles. These are the simplest forms of hybrid vehicles. They combine the power from an internal combustion engine or electric motor with the power of the rider?s muscles. Then there are hybrid heavy vehicles like railway locomotives, buses, heavy goods vehicles, ships or mobile hydraulic machinery. Usually, the term hybrid car/ vehicle is used to refer to hybrid electric vehicles. This category includes the following types of automotives: AHS2 (Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Silverado, Cadillac Escalade, Saturn Vue), Toyota Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight and many others. A petroleum-electric hybrid car usually gets its power from an internal combustion engine (gasoline or diesel engine) and an electric battery.

The beginnings of the hybrid car date back to the late 1900s when David Arthurs, an electrical engineer from Arkansas, invented the braking regenerative hybrid. Besides the hybrid car as mentioned above, which uses two or more different propulsion devices, there are also vehicles which use distinct sources of energy or input types but only one engine. These are also considered by some people to be similar to the hybrid car. Actually the latter should be more appropriately called dual mode vehicles (electric trolleybuses, dual mode buses, flexible-fuel vehicles, etc).

A hybrid car presents a number of advantages from the environmental perspective and there are two sides to consider here. First, there is the aspect of fuel economy, and secondly, the benefit for the environment and, implicitly, for humankind is undeniable in the fight to reduce pollution. These two advantages and benefits brought about by the hybrid car are tributary to at least three elements in the design: the combination of gasoline and the electric motors, a battery with plenty of storage capacity and the possibility to re-capture important amounts of energy, which are normally wasted while braking.

Hybrid electric vehicles are automobiles which make use of a combination of conventional propulsion systems and rechargeable energy storage systems (RESS). The purpose for combining these two different power sources is to achieve improved fuel economy in hybrid electric vehicles compared to the conventional cars and trucks. Moreover hybrid electric vehicles incorporate propulsion systems in addition to the electric motors, in order not to be hampered by charging units the way it happens with battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

Modern times have seen the mass production of hybrid electric vehicles coming from a number of well known car manufacturers. The reasons why many car producers jump on the green bandwagon are varied. Whether there is a genuine interest in saving energy and not using the planet?s energetic sources, or a smart and “caring” way to attract buyers and thus sell more cars, one cannot be certain. There are three main ways that allow current hybrid electric vehicles to reduce gas consume. First, they lower the amount of wasted energy during idle or low input (turning off the ICE); secondly, they collect waste energy (regenerative braking), and thirdly, they reduce the size and power of the ICE and inefficiencies generated by under-utilization.

The modern mass-produced hybrid electric vehicles are able to prolong the charges on their batteries simply through collecting the kinetic energy via the regenerative braking system. Some hybrid electric vehicles use the internal combustion engine (ICE) to create electricity by spinning an electrical generator (quite often this is a motor-generator) to directly supply the electric motor that drives the vehicle or to recharge the battery. Many of the existing hybrid electric vehicles? capability is to reduce idle emissions by shutting down the internal combustion engine at idle status and restarting it when necessary (this is a start-stop system). The engines of the hybrid electric vehicles are smaller than those of non-hybrid petroleum fuel vehicles. These engines may function at various speeds, thus bringing more efficiency.

The making of the hybrid electric vehicles started in the late 1990s and the first ones came from Honda (Honda Insight) and Toyota (Toyota Prius). Even since beginnings of hybrid electric vehicles they have become widely available to the buyers. The future of hybrid electric vehicles is definitely bright, and this is the forecast by some automobile makers who consider hybrid electric vehicles a core segment of the automotive market of the future.

Everybody knows that for some time now there has been a worldwide preoccupation for the environment. Among the efforts made in the preservation of the natural world interest in particular has been awaken in so far as pollution and saving the planet?s energy sources are concerned. Therefore important steps have been made in this direction and scientists, engineers and vehicle producers have come together to create green vehicles or at least to adjust the existing ones to the present green tendencies and policies. One notable outcome of their efforts in this direction is represented by the appearance of more and more hybrid vehicles. In this field an important part is taken by hybrid trucks. Why should hybrid trucks make the object of our interest? Well, as you know, the transportation of goods relies a lot on big vehicles like trucks all over the world. These big vehicles ? the hybrid trucks - are huge consumers of fuel and the industry of transportation is equally large.

People are becoming more aware every day of the importance of preserving our environment and not using our energy resources wastefully any more that even owners of businesses in the field of transportation have changed their views and turned to hybrid trucks to comply with the laws and state regulations. Apparently, hybrid trucks represent one of the most popular hybrid searches in the automotive industry. People are eager to get the latest achievements in the hybrid vehicle construction business. People are interested not only in hybrid trucks but also in hybrid electric, diesel and flex fuel pickups, hybrid commercial trucks, freight trucks, semis and many others. Although full hybrid trucks belong to the future, this is a not so distant reality as you might imagine. Actually, a couple of full hybrid trucks have been launched in 2008, with more to come in 2009 and 2010.

There are many well-known car producers involved in this adjusting process, that have already come up with different types of hybrid trucks even if they are not the full versions we are all interested in and willing to have available. Thus Chevy and GMC have come up with some mild versions of hybrid pickups. Truck lovers and users will get satisfaction soon when promises made by Toyota, Dodge, Freightliner, International Truck Engine, Eaton and Kenworth will be materialized in the new hybrid trucks to be used. A nice achievement in the making of hybrid trucks is the notable reduction in the noise level besides the energy saving advantages. Hybrid trucks are quieter, cleaner and safer to use: all you need to do is evaluate an investment and put it into practice!

With the Saturn Vue Hybrid, General Motors started a green line that aimed first and foremost at being accessible. According to the manufacturer, the model is actually the most economical hybrid car in its category. One of the specificities of this motor is the way it receives gasoline: the fuel is sent directly to the engine by means of a motor-generator that makes a great substitute to the traditional alternator. The difference between the Saturn Vue Hybrid and other full hybrids is that the vehicle can’t get autonomous by using electrical power only. The dual-mode hybrid power device is planned for full launching at the end of this year, with market availability in 2009.

Another future project that General Motors envisage on the basis of their Saturn Vue Hybrid is the plug-in hybrid, but the design of such a model is closely connected with the availability of the lithium-ion batteries. Presently, a prototype running on this type of batteries is undergoing tests, while the Saturn Vue Hybrid remains to enjoy its market success. Negative reviews claim that this hybrid model is just a scheme on the part of General Motors to promote an appearance of concern for the environment; yet, not even the ill-intended can deny this car its clear advantages.

Saturn Vue Hybrid uses a ?belt alternator starter? according to General Motors, in a system that relies on a large electric motor that is linked to the crankshaft by means of a special drive belt, all being possible thanks to an improved automatic transmission. The engine starts and stops automatically, but not in a ?start-stop? system, with the electric power contributing to the acceleration force as well. Like with all the other hybrid models, Saturn Vue Hybrid recharges the electrical battery by regenerating the braking energy and storing it.

If compared to the regular gas-fueled vehicles, the Saturn Vue Hybrid saves you around 20% of the regular fuel consume. Several models of the Saturn Vue Hybrid have been launched with a growing improvement in terms of acceleration times and standard speed per hour from one model to another. A careful analysis of the technical features of the designs together with the fuel consume and the gains you’ve got from the hybrid function should be conclusive for any purchase. If you are willing to wait a little further, and you are not pressed to buy a car right away, you could wait until the new Saturn Vue Hybrid with plug in features is launched in 2009.

What is a hybrid engine? What are the functioning principles of a hybrid engine? The hybrid engine is typically described as an engine with two sources of energy: thus, on the one hand there is the gas part and on the other, there is an electrical battery that supports the gas system. Through this combination, the outcome is lower pollution due to the electric component and the high power output of the gas engine. What can be said about the variety of hybrid engine types is that there are as many of them as there are hybrid cars. Each and every hybrid engine is created as to allow the gas engine and the electric motor to connect to the drive train in order to power the vehicle and make it move.

How does the hybrid engine work? The principle by which any hybrid engine functions is quite simple. The hybrid engine works as follows: the gas engine and the brakes are used with the aim to recharge the battery for the electric motor; thus there is no more need to plug in overnight, as it would be the case with an electric only motor. When the brakes are pressed, some of the energy otherwise used to stop the car, is collected by the regenerative brakes in the electric motor.

In the case of a typical full hybrid engine, the electric motor will take control while the vehicle is cruising, when it stops or when you slowly accelerate it. When extra energy or power is necessary, it is the gas engine?s turn to interfere to give the expected acceleration. In the case of the hybrid engine,we will obtain higher mpg than in the gas-only engine vehicles by letting the electric motor to take over.

The fact that most of the energy is collected, and to a certain extent saved, when the vehicle is stopped or slowed down, makes hybrid vehicles better and more efficient in city driving. Unlike what happens due to hybrid engine vehicles, in the situation of gas-only engine cars, driving is more fuel efficient when racing at higher speeds, out of the city. The hybrid engine vehicles not only eliminate the need to plug in, but they have also increased the range of technical possibilities.

Hi and welcome!

I want to cover all I can about alternative energy including fuels.  On my mind have been cars, so first I’m going to have a lot of posts about Hybrid Vehicles.