Hybrid technology: shaping society’s future Essay

An Introduction to Hybrid Cars According to TechFaq, A hybrid car depends on two kinds of engines for propulsion power. Most hybrid cars available today use a combination of gasoline and electric engines while some use a combination of diesel and electric engines. Traditional gasoline-powered cars derive their propulsion power from combustion of gasoline. The combustion of gas produces the energy needed to turn the transmission as well as the wheels. Unfortunately, although fossil fuels still delivers the most power per pound, their by-products are harmful to the environment. Fossil fuels are also non renewable resources so as they became more scarce, their prices continued to rise. Electric-powered cars, on the other hand, have a set of powerful batteries for powering the electric motor which in turn rotates the transmission and turns the wheels. Although their by-products are almost pollution free, electric powered cars take a lot of time to recharge and are generally slow. A hybrid car combines the strengths of each type of engine. It produces less pollution and it is more economical than the conventional car while still being more powerful than electric powered cars. Its Components The components of a hybrid car are a fuel tank for the gasoline engine, a cutting-edge gasoline engine that is much smaller, more efficient and produces less pollution than usual gasoline engines, an electric motor/generator which can either draw energy from the batteries to power the car or charge the batteries while the car is slowing down, a set of batteries which acts much like the fuel tank for the electric motor, and the transmission which turns the wheels. It also has Regenerative Braking, Temporary Engine Shut-off, and other features like minimal-drag tires, carbon fiber, and other lightweight materials to reduce overall weight and state of the art aerodynamic designs for the body. All these things make it easier for a hybrid car to drive up inclines and accelerate, attain higher speeds as well as minimize fuel consumption and emissions (TeqFaq). Hybrid Cars and their Effects on Society Sky-high oil prices and an increased awareness of the energy and global-warming crises are helping fuel the hybrid’s gradually increasing visibility, wrote Donaldson-Evans of Fox News. â€Å"It’s part of the popular culture now. You are going to see more offerings,† said Aaron Robinson, technical editor at Car and Driver Magazine. â€Å"Car companies that do not offer hybrids will be seen as behind. † Its Effects on the People’s Buying Habits: According to the Donaldson-Evans report, with gasoline now being sold at higher than $3-a-gallon in much of the U. S. , hybrids are certainly getting more attention than ever before in their short lifespan. (Those sold in the United States are all less than 10 years old. )Almost every major car company that does business in America is offering hybrids or has them in the works. â€Å"Fuel is only going to get more expensive,† Robinson said. â€Å"People are changing their buying habits as a result. † Toyota has also pledged to make a total of one million hybrid cars by the end of the decade. â€Å"The hybrids have been profitable since very early on,† said Toyota Motor Sales U. S. A. spokesman Wade Hoyt. â€Å"We’re not losing money on it. It’s not a charity operation. We see the market as expanding. † Its Effects on the Car Industry The Japanese car manufacturer isn’t the only game in town when it comes to autos powered by gas and electric batteries, however. Ford Motor Company (F) offers the For Escape and the Mercury Mariner SUVs in the fuel-efficient forms, with plans for Ford Fusions and Mercury Milans to go hybrid by 2008. Ford Motor Co. spokesman Monte Doran said sales of the Escape and Mariner hybrids were up 55 percent in the first five months of 2006. â€Å"Ford is researching many different ways to deliver greener miles to consumers,† Doran said. â€Å"Hybrids are a very important part of that: They deliver amazing improvements in fuel economy without sacrificing performance and utility. † Other car makers with hybrids in the works: Hyundai, Nissan and GM’s Saturn and Chevrolet divisions, according to Robinson. Its Effects on Public Transportation The Fox News report went on by relaying how one Yellow Cab taxi driver in San Francisco has been carting passengers around in a Ford Escape hybrid since 2004 and can’t remember what his life was like in the strictly gas-powered world. â€Å"I love it. I wouldn’t go back to a regular cab,† said Paul Gillespie, the driver representative for the city’s seven-member taxi commission. â€Å"It saved me between $4,000 and $5,000 in gas last year. † Gillespie said San Francisco has between 40 and 50 hybrid taxis on the road, and he hopes to see that number climb steadily. â€Å"You’re just so much less noisy and intrusive and stinky,† he said. â€Å"It’s a win-win situation — you’re putting thousands of dollars in drivers’ pockets in addition to reducing CO2 emissions. † In the hybrid’s early days — around 1999 or 2000 — consumers and automakers were hesitant to latch onto the trend in part because of the fear that the battery would die every so often and be expensive to replace. Robinson believes hybrids will one day become so common and so widely used that they’ll just be another feature drivers can choose, rather than a totally different animal, the way they still seem now. It is expected that more and more public transportation vehicles will be using hybrid technology since it is to those vehicles that stop and go more often that hybrids work best as.