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Hybrid Cars & VehiclesHybrid vehicles database - Commonly using internal combustion engines and electric motors, powered by batteries. Hybrid vehicles have greater fuel economy than conventional internal combustion engine cars, fewer air polluting emissions, lower noise emissions as well, particularly while idling and during operating speeds compared to conventional gasoline or diesel powered engines. Often referred to as a dual-power gasoline and electric vehicle most commonly using internal combustion engines (gasoline or diesel) and electric batteries to power electric motors. Vehicles like the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Ford Escape and Honda Insight just to name a few. The history dates back to Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who designed the first successful hybrid vehicles. The Lohner-Porsche petrol-electric "Mixte", built in 1902. It used a gas engine, which rotated at a constant speed to drive a dynamo, which then charged accumulators that fed current to electric motors contained within the hubs of the front wheels. Thousands of hybrid vehicles were produced in the years between 1902 and 1920, by companies such as Krieger, Lohner-Porsche, and Auto-Mixte. Efficient assembly line manufacturing by Ford and the introduction of the self-starting gas engine caused the decline for hybrid vehicles. After nearly eighty years, Hybrid vehicles are becoming popular again. Toyota launched the first mass-marketed, Prius, in 1997, only in the Japanese markets. However there was an earlier Toyota prototype in 1977 - Sports 800 Gas Turbine. The Toyota Prius was released in the US in 2000, one year following, the Honda Insight. Since then hybrid vehicles have become very successful, with demand outpacing supply. This unexpected demand of has resulted in orders with delivery dates as long as one year in 2001 - 2004. U.S. sales reached approximately 80,000 in 2004. Analysts expect as many as half a million (500,000) hybrid vehicles to be sold in 2007. Early hybrid vehicles primarily used the electric motor for all power. The engine would charge batteries from which the motor drew power, running only when needed to charge them back up, more advanced hybrids reverse the process, using gasoline engine for primary power, but with greater efficiency than with conventional designs. The electric motor is designed to operate not only when the electric motor is used, but when the gasoline engine requires more power. Modern hybrid vehicles charge the batteries both from motor generation and during braking, using the momentum of the car to generate electricity. |
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Hybrid Vehicles
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