by EstherLou

Created on: June 24, 2008   Last Updated: November 07, 2008

When we hear the word Hybrid, we think of new and innovative, but hybrids have been around for awhile. A mo-ped is a type of hybrid because it combines the gas engine with the pedal power of the rider. Most locomotives pulling trains are diesel-electric hybrids. Cities like Seattle have diesel-electric buses that can draw electric power from overhead wires or run on diesel when away from the wires. Submarines are hybrids...some are nuclear-electric and some are diesel-electric. Any vehicle that combines the use of two or more sources of power that can directly or indirectly propel the vehicle is a hybrid. Most of the hybrids on our roads right now are gasoline-electric.

A gasoline-electric hybrid car is a cross between a gasoline-powered car and an electric car. In a typical gas-powered car, the fuel tank supplies gas to the engine which turns a transmission which turns the wheels. An electric car has a set of batteries that provide electricity to an electric motor which turns the transmission which turns the wheels. A hybrid is a compromise between the two. It's goal is to increase the mileage and reduce the emissions of a gas-powered car and overcome the shorcomings of the electric car.

To be of any use to the driver, a car must have minimum requirements such as being able to drive at lease 300 miles before re-fueling; refueling must be quick and easy; and you should be able to keep up with the other traffic on the road. A gas car meets these requirements but produces pollution and usually gets poor gas mileage. An electric car produces almost no pollution, but can only go 50-100 miles before it needs to be recharged. The electric car has typically been very slow and inconvenient to recharge.

A gasoline-electric car is trying to combine the best of both worlds using both gas power and electric power. The gasoline engine on a hybrid is similar to what we are used to but is smaller and reduces emissions and increases efficiency. The fuel tank is the energy storage device in a hybrid's gas engine. The electric motor on a hybrid car acts as a motor and a generator. It can draw energy from the batteries to accelerate, and it can slow down the car and return energy back to the batteries. The generator is similar to an electric motor but is only to produce electrical power. The batteries in a hybrid store the energy for the electric motor. The electric motor on a hybrid can put energy into the batteries and also draw energy from them. The trasmissions on a hybrid car

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