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  1. #1

    What are hybrids?

    What makes a hybrid a hybrid? or What makes a hybrid different from a regular car?

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  3. #2

    What are hybrids?

    Great question - one I wish a lot of others would ask.

    This website offers a lot of great details so I don't see a need to go into depth her but briefly:

    A hybrid automobile is one that is a combination of different kinds of automobiles. The only common one is the hybrid - electric which has both a gasoline engine and an electric motor that are used to drive it.

    It take advantage of the good energy storage capability of the gasoline engine to provide long range between fillups and the great efficiency and strength of an electric motor with a battery to offer greater performance during startup and stopping.

    There are several ways to marry these two capabilities to offer greater fuel economy and/or greater performance.

    I hope this helps.

  4. #3

    What are hybrids?

    Without getting "too" technical, a Hybrid is just that, a marriage of an all-electric car, with an all-gas car (the majority of vehicles).

    Some hybrids, such as all Toyota/Lexus Hybrid models, Ford Escape Hybrid, and the 2006+ Honda Civic Hybrid can run on electricity alone at low speeds. These cars are often called "full" hybrids.

    Other Hybrids, such as the Honda Insight, Honda Accord, and the Honda Civic 2003-2005, can't run on electricity alone, but use it as a supercharger during acceleration: the most demanding condition during driving. These cars are called "mild" hybrids.

    By using electricity to either power the vehicle alone or to "assist" the gas engine during accelerating, you take some/all of the load off the engine, and thus it uses less gas.

    Some people are misconcieved that you have to "plug in" a hybrid. Plug in hybrids, though delivering 100mpg+, are still a "research project" away.

    All of the hybrids now recharge their batteries during braking. This is called regenerative braking. Instead of wasting energy by turing the movement of the car into heat (which is what brakes do), hybrids "tap" into this enormous energy potential that is otherwise wasted. By turning the same motor that drives/supercharges the car into a generator, the car recharges its large battery, from which its gets its electricity to drive/supercharge it.

    I'm sorry if that's too technical, as I tried to make it sound less that way, but that is pretty much how a hybrid works.

    -&gt; 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid Owner

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