What are the differences between Electric Cars and Hybrids? Is either one practical for me?

Here’s a quick run-down on the different types of vehicles:

Gas-powered – This is your standard car today. An internal combustion engine uses gasoline to provide the power to drive the transmission and turn the wheels. Generally, gasoline engines are inefficient, but are powerful, and relatively inexpensive to run. With the rise in fossil fuel prices (diesel, gasoline, oil), these engines are slightly increasing in cost, but are still at the low-end of the price spectrum compared to electric cars. The downside to gas-powered engines is the inefficiency and the pollution generated by the combustion, as well as the noise. The advantages include low-cost, availability of fuel, large range, high top speed and good acceleration rate.

Electric Cars – Sometimes called Electric Vehicles, or EVs, use large batteries to store electricity which is then used to drive the wheels. It is as simple as that. The advantages are that electric cars are much quieter than internal combustion engines, and generate zero direct pollution. The disadvantages are the time needed to charge the batteries, the availability of charging stations, lack of range, low top speed, and lack of acceleration. One of the biggest advantages is the low-cost of running an electric car…literally a few cents per mile.

Hybrids – Hybrids are a combination of an internal combustion engine and a battery-powered electric car. They have a fuel tank for gasoline and the engine burns gasoline just like a normal car. But they also have a large battery which can either be charged by plugging in, but also uses the friction created by braking to recharge itself. The battery provides a ‘boost’ to the engine, providing power which allows the engine to run much, much more efficiently. The byproduct is higher miles per gallon of fuel, and lower pollution.

Size of the vehicle is another factor to consider. A combustion engine requires a larger frame to support its weight . However the engine is powerful enough to move a large vehicle. Electric cars are designed to be power-efficient, so they shed weight everywhere they can. This includes the safety features. Electric cars do not have the heavy metal cages built around the passengers the way gas-powered cars do. Nor do they have the space. The internal room, cargo areas, and number of passengers are generally smaller on electric cars.

Having said that, Electric Cars are gaining in both popularity and in practicality. New developments in energy or power cell technologies are making Electric Cars more feasible. With every passing year, the batteries are lasting longer, becoming smaller, and more powerful, all at the same time. Add to that the increasing cost of fossil fuels, and the increasing social awareness of pollution-production, and the demand for electric cars or even hybrids is on the rise. California, for example, has created the infrastructure for electric cars by providing numerous recharging stations. Other states are following suit.

Gas-powered cars have been around for a long time, and won’t disappear soon. However, as major manufacturers notice the clamor for their hybrid models, they are working feverishly on developing models that don’t rely on gasoline at all. It is certain that we will move more and more toward electric cars due to market demands; demand from the populous, lower supply of oil, and pressure from the government are three factors that guarantee the future production of viable electric cars.

The main advantages of electric cars are convenience, environmental benefits and fun. EVs are fun to drive while you are doing good things for the world. How so?

First, let’s take a look at the conveniences of battery powered electric cars:

1. EVs are simple to start compared to gas powered cars. You never really “start” the car. As long as the batteries are charged up, all the driver does is close the switch and the car is on! No more accidentally grinding the starter or waiting for the car to warm up. Turn the key; put it in gear, and go.

2. No more tune-ups with an EV. You may need to change out the battery pack once in a while or replace a fuse, but the EV is very low maintenance. Engine repairs are almost not existent since electric motors are very reliable and long lasting. Older motors may require some work on the brushes, but not much, and hardly anything compared to the work required to keep an old gas powered car going!

3. Cheap to operate. At this time, electric cars are still expensive compared to gas powered cars. This has to do with the higher cost of relatively newer battery technologies, and the lack of real mass manufacturing of the components – economy of scale. However, the EV costs only a few cents per mile to drive. The new Nissan Leaf costs about $0.03 USD for the electricity! Try that with a gas burner.

4. EVs are cool. At the present there are not many electric cars around. EVs are different, and still pretty cool. Maybe you can get a date over your EV!

Next, the environmental benefits:

1. Cleaner air. Note that we do not claim that EVs have zero environmental impacts. All vehicles and manufactured machines in general put some dent in the environmental fabric. However, EVs are cleaner than gas powered rigs, the carbon argument notwithstanding. It is argued that if the source of electricity is coal fired power plants that you are just moving the pollution from one place to another. This can be shown to be correct in some cases, but overall it is a lame attempt to resist improvement.

Number one; there is the option to switch to cleaner energy sources such as wind, solar, wave, geothermal and solar power. In fact, it would be a good thing if EVs could force this switch!

Number two; electric cars use energy more efficiently than gas powered cars. Gas powered cars waste about 2/3 of their fuel in excess heat…gone, bye bye, up and away. Just think that of every $1.00 you put in the gas tank, only $0.33 goes towards actually moving you towards your destination! Electric cars use almost all of their energy to move forward to where they are going. What a concept! Take a look at any electric car today, they carry the energy equivalent of like 1 gallon of gasoline, but are doing the same job in many cases. So, less energy used means less pollution any way you shake it.

2. Attitude. It is all about attitude the coaches tell us. It is no different with cars. If you have an attitude of disrespect for the air you breathe, you will help make it less breathable. That’s fine, except that people with this attitude also junk up the air for the rest of plants, animals, and people here on this 3rd planet from the sun. Electric cars help promote an awareness of conservation of resources and an attitude of gratitude for the resources we have and need to keep on keepin on.

3. Conservation of resources: Since transport uses much of the World supply of petroleum, and the World is facing Peak Oil at some point here, electric cars have the advantage of helping in a major way to conserve existing petroleum reserves. This will help preserve lower costs to consumers and ease shocks from the pounding of peak oil.

EV Fun:

Finally, remember the Fun! Here is an interesting and not much talked about aspect of the electric vehicle: the EV Grin.

For some reason, almost everybody that first drives an electric vehicle gets this kind of grin, smile or whatever. It has been called the EV Grin. There is something about the silent, smooth power of the electric car that just makes the driver smile.

Electric cars (set up properly) are quick off the line and run smooth. There is no shifting required many times, and the driving is easy and fun. At stop lights you do not need to worry about revving up off the line, or holding your foot too hard on the brake, unless you own an EV like the Tesla which is programmed to “idle” like a contemporary car.

EVs can smoke the tires too. If you are so inclined, take advantage of that low end torque and smoke it!

These are some of the advantages of electric cars. Of course there are drawbacks to EVs, but that is another article.

Happy Motoring!

Convert your car to run on water – is this for real? Well, it depends.

There is no way to run your car on water alone – you will need gas, in fact you could use both; gas and water. This will greatly increase gas mileage and decrease the pollution.

Using water for energy is nothing new; in fact, over 90 years ago scientists such as Tesla started testing water for energy. Nikola Tesla was able to discover the hidden energy in water but for many political and other reasons his discovery was not considered as important and with time was completely forgotten.

The general demand for gas is huge – this is why the governments do not invest into developing alternative fuels. You might have heard of the electric car – if you did, you know the reason for which this car disappeared from Earth. The Hydrogen-on-demand system is not being officially developed and advertised for same political related reasons, however, you do not need the government to do anything, and you could convert your car to run on water by yourself, at home.

Converting your car does not necessarily mean “difficult”. The system consists of a few simple bolt-ons and some tubes. It does not modify your engine or the car’s computer, when removed it is completely untraceable.

The system transforms water to HHO – the Browns gas which allows the engine to burn gas more efficiently. It does not only give you better gas mileage, the system also reduces the engine’s noise and vibration which results in smoother gear shafting. The pollution is greatly reduced when the system is used because the gas is actually burned by the engine and not wasted through the exhaust system as unburned gas.

The use of the system gives you access to certain IRS credits – just as if you were buying a Hybrid.

Solar power

Have you ever used a battery? Of course you have. It is highly unlikely that there is anyone alive today that has not used a battery. Many times you do not realize how much you depend on batteries until they die and you do not have any spares around.

When you think about batteries you may not think about the batteries that power your vehicle, but these too are batteries. They can be recharged and last much longer than the double A or nine volt batteries that charge the cd players or flashlights that you were probably thinking of but they are batteries nonetheless. They also require different care than the batteries that you may have had in mind originally.

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