by Franklin Montan

Created on: June 13, 2009

As everyone knows, Hybrid cars are alternate fuel vehicles equipped with a small fuel proficient gas engine which combines with an electric motor that will support the gas engine when accelerating.

But technology has it's Pros and cons in every aspect. Let us point out some of the pros before we go with the cons:

Everybody knows that you will get a tax credit from the government even some car companies offer it.

Hybrid cars carry a smaller engine than conventional cars. By having such a small engine, less fuel is used to power it.

These cars use the electric motor to give an extra push when extra power is needed. That is how you see these cars keeping up on the highway with the conventional cars.

Some auto insurance companies offer discounts to hybrid car owners up to a 10%.

In some states, owners of hybrids cars an drive on the "HOV" lane even if they are the only person in the car, for example New Jersey allow this.

Hybrids tend to get from 30 to 50 miles per gallon depending on what hybrid you own, if it's a SUV of a car.

These cars cause less wear and tear on the gas engines and brakes. You stop less at gas stations for fuel when you are making long trips.

Maintenance on these vehicles are less than conventional vehicles due to the less wear and tear just mentioned.

Regarding the cons on hybrid cars are as follows:

The trunk space is limited due to the large battery size.

The average life and maintenance costs are unknown.

Hybrid cars computer systems are not perfect, sometimes they will crash. We get drivers that feel uncomfortable that the engine noticeable switches from gas to electric.

Hybrid cars are not affordable to everyone due to the high cost of building one. The components on the electric motor and battery itself are way much expensive to build them than the parts of the gas engine. Unfortunately that is why people that are upper middle class and above are the more noticeable buyers these times for such vehicles.

Who knows if one day the government will do just the same as when the television transmission turned from analog to digital. What I mean with this is that since not everyone can afford such vehicles, you can still convert your conventional car to hybrid with companies that offer such parts for such conversion. But still these parts are expensive. So I suggest that the government can help people that would like to contribute to have a greener car by offering financial help on buying the parts to convert their vehicles to hybrid and still would not reach not even a quarter the price that you will pay for a hybrid car.

Learn more about this author, Franklin Montan.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.