Hybrid Car Definition, Essay Example

A hybrid car is defined as a motor vehicle that has two or more power sources. Most hybrid cars today use a combination of gasoline and electricity to power the motor. These cars are advantageous to consumers because they allow users to purchase less gasoline, thereby saving money. It is important to emphasize that hybrid cars are called this because their motors are hybrid and the other parts of the car are not. Hybrid cars are also referred to as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which are called as such specifically because they have an internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion system in addition to electric propulsion system. Normal cars only have the ICE propulsion system in place.

Hybrid cars are energy efficient primarily due to the presence of the electric propulsion system. Although this technology is helpful in ensuring that the amount of money that the consumer spends on gasoline remains low, modern car manufacturers have updates these cars in order to save even more energy. These includes the use of technology such as regenerative breaking, which converts the kinetic energy of the car into electric energy to charge the battery instead of releasing it as heat, which regular cars do. Furthermore, some hybrid cars include an electrical generator, which produces even more energy for the car by using the internal combustion engine to make electricity.

It should also be mentioned that hybrid cars are environmentally friendly even though they contain an ICE system, just as normal cars do. This is because hybrid cars have something called a stop-start system, meaning that the ICE engine is switched off when the car is idle. Furthermore, the gasoline engine is smaller in hybrid cars, so even when it is being used, there are less emissions released.