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Products You Can Purchase
Hybrid Cars
What Makes it a "Hybrid"?
Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power. The
gasoline-electric hybrid car is a cross between a gasoline-powered car and an
electric car. These cars have been built to reduce tailpipe emissions and to
improve mileage.
Why Should You Use Hybrids?
With gas prices growing every day, everyone is looking for a way to save
money on driving expenses. Hybrid cars have a much better fuel efficiency, and
are able to get many more miles to the gallon than regular fuel-burning cars.
While the initial cost of the car is higher, the money saved on gas puts money
back in your pocket in no time. However, potential owners should consider that
maintenance costs on hybrid cars (e.g., battery replacement) may be more
costly that standard combustion engine cars.
Hybrid cars are more environmentally-friendly than regular cars which emit
greater amounts of CO2 and other noxious gases into the air
contributing to global warming and pollution. Because CO2 emissions
from cars are not regulated, there are no devices for removing CO2
from the exhaust, so a car that burns twice as much gas adds twice as much
CO2 to the atmosphere.
How Do Hybrids Work?
A hybrid car does not need to rely on the gasoline engine all of the time
because it has an alternate power source – the electric motor and
batteries. So the hybrid car can sometimes turn off the gasoline engine, for
example, when the vehicle is stopped at a red light.
What’s Available Now?
There are several hybrid cars now available in the United States – the
Honda Civic Hybrid, the Honda Insight, the Honda Accord, the Toyota Prius, the
Toyota Highlander, and the Ford Escape. However, due to limited options, the
initial cost to purchase a hybrid is greater than the cost for regular
fuel-burning cars.
Future Cars
Over the past four years, more than 100,000 hybrids have been sold in the
United States. Even though that's not a huge percentage of the more than 17
million new cars and trucks that are sold in the U.S. each year, it's enough
of an incentive to start producing more hybrids.
As consumers, we should push manufacturers to provide more options with
hybrid technology. As demand increases, the initial and maintenance costs of
hybrids will rival that of regular fuel-burning cars. Furthermore, we should
encourage the development of hybrid battery disposal programs, as the battery
from hybrid cars contains hazardous waste.
For more information about these cars, please visit these websites:
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