People Need to Save Energy Resources, Essay Example

Introduction

That people need to save energy resources is obvious. Countries and societies develop new codes of energy use, to protect the environment and ensure that the future generations have enough resources to meet their life needs. The commitment to green energy has become the distinctive feature of postmodernity. Hybrid cars reflect the human striving to reduce the burden of ecological issues in society. They uniquely combine the features of an efficient vehicle and an ecologically safe mechanism. Like conventional cars, hybrid vehicles are speedy, fast, and available to consumers, and although they are much more expensive than regular cars, their fuel efficiency is incomparably better than that of conventional vehicles.

Hybrid cars reflect the society’s striving to use scarce energy resources more efficiently, and like conventional vehicles, hybrid cars are speedy, fast, and efficient. The belief that hybrid cars are not fast and lack proper acceleration is at least erroneous: more often than not, hybrids maintain equal grounds with conventional cars. A regular car uses a traditional gasoline combustion engine, which serves the principal source of its power. In its turn, a hybrid car operates with the help of a small fuel-efficient engine, which is further combined with an electric motor (Best Hybrid Car). The latter aids the fuel-efficient engine and adds power during acceleration (Best Hybrid Car). Hybrids have an advanced aerodynamic lightweight body and low roll resistant tires that add efficiency to their fuel-efficient engines (Best Hybrid Car). Those who look for a safe and speedy vehicle should not fear of losing a share of their efficiency for the sake of ecological safety. A hybrid exemplifies a unique combination of speed and acceleration along with fuel efficiency, which modern conventional cars lack.

Like traditional cars, hybrids are widely available to consumers. Ford, Toyota, and Honda are ranked the best car brands in America (Elliott). In 2010, Forbes announced Toyota the best car brand in the United States (Elliott). The most popular hybrid cars currently available in North America include Honda Civic, Honda Insight, Honda Accord, the Mercury Mainer and, certainly, Toyota Prius (Best Hybrid Car). Even if the choice of hybrid brands is not as wide as it is with conventional cars, these are enough to satisfy the consumer demand for energy safe cars. As the demand for hybrid cars is rising, car manufacturers are doing everything possible and impossible to meet the needs of their consumers. For example, Toyota declared that it would develop and use a new lithium-ion battery for its hybrids – the battery would store more energy and, simultaneously, let the manufacturer produce more cars (O’Carroll). At times, consumers have to wait a couple of weeks to purchase a hybrid they wish, but as more consumers are switching to fuel efficient cars, their availability will further increase. Possibly, hybrid cars will gradually squeeze conventional vehicles from the market.

Hybrid and conventional cars have many similarities, but they are also different – unlike conventional cars, hybrid vehicles are extremely expensive. To a large extent, the price is the principal barrier to popularizing hybrid cars in the world. A typical hybrid can cost from a couple to several thousand more compared with their conventional counterparts (Job). For example, the price for a new gasoline-powered Civic LX sedan does not exceed $17,300, whereas the Honda Civic Hybrid 2007 will cost consumers no less than $22,500 (Job). Certainly, tax credits help consumers to reduce the price difference, but in case of Honda Civic Hybrid, the maximum credit will be only $2,100 (Job). Therefore, consumers must decide whether they want a gasoline-powered car today or are willing to save some of their money, to get a fuel-efficient hybrid car in the distant future.

In distinction from conventional vehicles, hybrid cars display excellent parameters of fuel efficiency, which are their greatest benefit. A traditional diesel-powered model of Volkswagen Jetta 2008 with manual transmission and 30/41 mpg can hardly compete with Toyota Prius and its 48/45 mpg (Hybrid Cars). Actually, most hybrid cars show between 40 and 60 miles per gallon in city driving and between 30 and 68 miles per gallon on highways (Green Living Answers). In addition, the service and maintenance costs of hybrids are lower, compared with regular cars. The engine wear in hybrids is minimal, and the electric system relieves the pressure from the braking system (Green Living Answers). Thus, a hybrid car provides drivers with unique benefits, which traditional cars do not have. Of course, for many drivers, hybrid cars are somewhat unusual. They fear that having a hybrid car will cause additional expenses and unreasonable losses. Although hybrids are relatively new to the market, they have a potential to become the main source of profits for car manufacturers in the nearest future.

Conclusion

That people need to save energy resources is obvious. Hybrid vehicles reflect the society’s commitment to use scarce resources more effectively. Like conventional cars, hybrid vehicles are speedy, fast, and available to consumers, and although they are much more expensive than regular cars, their fuel efficiency is incomparably better than that of conventional vehicles. A regular car uses traditional gasoline-powered engine, whereas hybrid cars operate through a fuel-efficient engine which is further supported by an electric motor. Hybrids have an advanced aerodynamic lightweight body and low roll resistant tires that add efficiency to their fuel-efficient engines. Regular and hybrid cars are widely available to consumers. The most popular hybrid cars currently available in North America include Honda Civic, Honda Insight, Honda Accord, the Mercury Mainer and, certainly, Toyota Prius. A hybrid costs from a couple to several thousand more compared with similar conventional vehicles. Consumers must decide whether they want a gasoline-powered car today or are willing to save some of their money, to get a fuel-efficient hybrid car in the distant future. In the meantime, regular cars can hardly compete with the fuel efficiency and ecological safety of the hybrid inventions. Although hybrids are relatively new to consumers, they have a potential to squeeze regular vehicles from the market in the nearest future.

Works Cited

Best Hybrid Car. “Hybrid Car Acceleration – What Exactly Is a Hybrid Car?” Best Hybrid Car Center, 22 September 2010. Web. 09 November 2010.

Elliott, H. “America’s Best Car Brands.” Forbes, 25 August 2010. Web. 09 November 2010.

Green Living Answers. “Hybrid Cars vs. Regular Cars.” Green Living Answers, n.d. Web. 09 November 2010.

Hybrid Cars. “Prius Tops 2009 Fuel Economy Ratings.” Hybrid Cars, 16 October 2008. Web. 09 November 2010.

Job, A. “Don’t Be Fueled Gas vs. Diesel vs. Hybrid Power.” MSN Autos, n.d. Web. 09 November 2010.

O’Carroll, E. “Hybrid Availability Plunges as Demand Rises.” The Christian Science Monitor, 11 June 2008. Web. 09 November 2010.