Green behind the wheel

We’ve all heard of hybrid cars and maybe even seen public transport sporting a proud banner saying ‘Hybrid-Electric’, but do you really know what it means when a vehicle is hybrid and just how important is it in car manufacturing?

Legislation in the EU and North America is enforcing strict regulations on the production of new cars, which places an emphasis on reduction of CO2 emissions and this is where the main focus is coming from.

What is hybrid?

A hybrid vehicle is one that depends on more than one means of power. Specifically this means a combination of fuel and electricity.

The production of hybrid vehicles is growing steadily. In the most efficient and sophisticated of hybrid vehicles, fuel and electricity can work together or separately, depending on how much power is needed.

At low speeds the engine switches off and the car runs solely on electricity, while at higher speeds both power sources kick in. Extra ‘juice’ generated by the engine recharges the batteries which provide power to the electric motor.

The new range of Honda cars (which can be seen at www.honda.co.uk/cars/) for instance, include an impressive hybrid vehicle which combines petrol or diesel with support from an electric motor.

We looked at the Honda Civic Hybrid back in 2011 when it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show and boasted the ability to save up to 10% of fuel after 300 drives. You can read our full report made at the time here.

Plug in cars

Considering the concept of the electric car has been around for about a century, it’s  refreshing to see cars partly run by this power source finally on the road.

Another variant of electric car can be plugged in for battery recharge. Some can even charge up while cruising along. These vehicles have a conventional engine but have bigger batteries than a standard hybrid.

This means they can carry on for longer distances, driving purely on electric power.

The pros of hybrids

With so much legislation focused on protecting the environment, nobody can ignore the impact their car has on the planet anymore. Governments are now rewarding owners of hybrid vehicles through lower motor-related taxes in a bid to get more hybrids on the roads. This means there are financial as well as environmental benefits for going green.

Simply put, a hybrid is more efficient than a car which relies entirely on fuel, giving you much better mileage per gallon of petrol and thus reducing future running costs.