How Do Hybrid Cars Work?

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is quite the technological wonder. As a work in progress, the Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology has done much to improve the gas-dependence situation and has saved several households and individuals from having to spend so much on fossil fuels.

So what is it under the hood that is creating all these wondrous things that seem to improve the lifestyle of the average consumer? Let's take a look at how hybrid cars work.

A Combination

The keyword in all of this is the word "hybrid." An HEV basically brings out the best in both electrical power and fuel. By incorporating both an electrical motor and a gas engine, it allows the vehicle to switch back and forth between energy sources. Of course, the usual case is that the car really depends solely on the battery and electrical motors to run the vehicle.

So what is the gas for? Well, the vehicle will still need fuel to run a motor that charges the battery which in turn runs the whole car. But the beauty of this set up is that not much fuel is needed to charge up those batteries; thus, hybrid cars really only need so much fuel to fill their significantly smaller gas tanks and therefore it saves people from having to spend so much money on gas.

The Distance

To understand how a hybrid car really works, you would need to take one for a spin on a full tank and compare the results in distance and mileage with a vehicle that runs on gas alone. Definitely, you will observe the world of difference in vehicles running on electric motors. Running great distances is easily achieved in the way how a hybrid car works. There are basically 3 technologies that makes this possible.

The first technology in hybrid cars is known as the regenerative braking. This includes an electric engine that applies resistance to the drive train which, in turn, causes the wheels to stop or to slow down. The energy from the wheels turns the engine which in real time acts as a generator and transforms the energy wasted during coasting and braking into electricity. This electricity is then reserved and stored in the battery until it is required by other functions in the electric motor.

The next technology is known as elect motor assist and it provides additional power to assist the engine in acceleration like when speeding up or ascending. This means that the smaller engine (electric motor) is used and is more efficient than an internal combustion engine that requires and burns a lot of gas.

Another technology that is starting to pick up in a lot of modern hybrid vehicles is known simply as automatic start and shutdown. When a hybrid vehicle stops in the middle of traffic or at a stoplight, the whole engine will shutdown as well. This prevents the engine from wasting energy and fuel from just being idle. And when the accelerator is pressed again, the engine will automatically start up so that acceleration is made available. It's a nifty option that has gained popularity from city street drivers. Combine these three technologies and this is essentially how hybrid cars work.

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