History of Hybrid Cars and The Need for Hybrid Cars

With the constant skyrocketing of gasoline prices, a lot of people are pressed to think of alternatives. For those who want to cut back on fuel money, they may consider buying hybrid cars. What is a hybrid car? Hybrid cars are a combination of gasoline-powered vehicles and electric cars. The benefits of hybrid cars hold over conventional cars is that they produce fewer emissions and adds considerable mileage.

But first, how a hybrid car works?

The very first electric vehicle was created by Robert Anderson from Aberdeen, Scotland in 1839. Later in 1870, Sir David Salomon came up with a vehicle equipped with a lightweight electric motor, along with storage batteries that were much too heavy. Predictably, the speed and the range of the car were not so desirable.

Over the years, several automobile manufacturers such as General Motors have improved on the concept of the electric cars, which later evolved into the hybrids that we know today. The most popular of these hybrids are the Insight from Honda and the Prius from Toyota.

These two exceptional vehicles can be used for hybrid car comparison,  the intricate and sophisticated technology of hybrid cars.

Honda Insight
Honda Insight Insight runs on a system called "Integrated Motor Assist," a term coined by Honda to describe its electric motor attached to the engine at the position usually occupied by the flywheel. This model has two kinds of transmission, the regular, manual transmission and the automatic one.

The hybrid car advantages on Honda Insight are the following:

• Support the gasoline engine by giving off additional power while the vehicle is climbing up or going down a hill.
• The motor can start the engine by itself without the aid of a starter.
• Captures energy while on the process of braking.
• Honda Insight relies on three main areas for efficiency:
• Honda Insight makes use of lightweight aluminum for its body to reduce the total weight of the vehicle.
• Honda Insight utilizes a small engine which operates efficiently, which weighs around 124 pounds only.
• Honda Insight makes use of advanced aerodynamics. The teardrop shape of the car has a lot to do with its performance.

Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius utilizes the power split device, an ingenious gearbox that connects the gasoline engine with the electric motor and generator. This allows the car to function like both parallel and series hybrids. The car does not need a starter also, because the device can make the generator start the engine.

Since Toyota Prius is on planetary gear set, the speed of the electric motor combined with the ring gear spin decides how fast the car will run.

Toyota Prius does not require their batteries to be recharged, because the generator located onboard the vehicles monitors the right amount of energy in the batteries.

Both Toyota and Honda allot long warranties for their hybrid models. Both Honda Insight and Toyota Prius are on eight-year warranties, and their hybrid car batteries and hybrid car motors usually do not need maintenance over the duration of the vehicle.