Hybrid Electric Cars

Many people believe that hybrid electric cars have opened the marketplace for pure electric cars as well as increasing demand for hybrid vehicles. But what exactly is a hybrid electric car and what can it do for you?

Hybrid vehicles

A hybrid vehicle is one which integrates both traditional internal combustion engine power with that of electric motors and onboard batteries. It is this ability to integrate these technologies which has increased efficiency, increased reliability and ultimately increased the trust of motorists around the world.

Parallel hybrids

A parallel hybrid system is one which sees both internal combustion engine power and electric motor power linked directly to the transmission system. The ability to extract power from these two very different sources has led to greater efficiency and extended the distance you are able to drive before a recharge is required.

Series hybrids

In general a series hybrid vehicle is used for short distances and possibly town and city travel. The vehicle itself is powered by an electric motor, as opposed to an internal combustion engine, but there is an internal combustion engine helping to power the electric motor by recharging the onboard batteries. These vehicles also tend to incorporate things such as regenerative braking and other new energy-efficient systems.

Series parallel hybrids

As you might guess, a series parallel hybrid vehicle is one which incorporates both technologies and allows the driver to switch between the two. Very often a different mix of the technology will be required for different journeys and the variations available with this particular type of vehicle have hit home with the mass market.

The efficiency of electric cars

The success of the electric car market has until today depend upon the ability to balance out lower emissions, more environmentally friendly fuel systems and extended journey capacity. While there have been massive improvements in electric battery power technology there is still further to go and indeed a purely electric powered car will have nowhere near the same journey potential as a traditional fuel powered vehicle.

We also need to take into account the fact that there are very few electric car recharging stations around the world, although places such as the UK have begun to make plans for the future, but as the number does increase we will see more “pure” electric cars on the market. Finding this balance between efficiency, reliability, speed and extended journey capacity is the key to the future.

Conclusion

For many years there was a stigma attached to the electric car market which took some time to shake off but finally it seems to have disappeared. Many experts believe it was the introduction of the hybrid vehicle, which offers a combination of electric power and standard internal combustion engine power, which broke the back of consumers who had a definite mistrust of electric vehicles before then.

Thankfully, slowly but surely we are seeing electric power become more prominent in the car market and this is a trend which is likely to continue for some time to come. As technology improves, specifically in the battery market, so the reliability factor, the trust factor and the performance factor will also improve.