 | rad Train is the General Manager overseeing day-to-day operations of Saturn West & Saturn East for the owner Scott Davies. He joined the Wichita Saturn team in 1994 as a Sales Consultant, after 3 years he entered the Saturn Management Team. Brad is a graduate of Southeast High and Butler Community College. He and his wife Michelle have 3 children; Shelby, Andrew and Jacob. You can contact Brad at (316)219-5500, or by e-mail at bradtrain@saturnwichita.com |
Cars, Trucks, Vans & Automotive
1969-12-31 18:00:00
What exactly is a hybrid car?
Question: What exactly is a Hybrid Car?
Answer: A hybrid car is a vehicle that uses a combination of at least two different fuel sources for its propulsion. Many combinations are possible, and generally when people are talking about hybrid cars, they are referring to cars with a combination of:• a gasoline internal combustion engine • an electric motor• a battery that powers the electric motor and stores energy for future use The cleanest and most efficient energy source is electricity. That's why, since the turn of the century, engineers and entrepreneurs have attempted to develop a practical electric automobile. The results to date have found that an electric car can do the job but it won't get you far. Getting the power on the road is not the problem, but as of yet no one has created a successful, lightweight, compact battery that is capable of covering average driving distances without recharging from a stationary source.If there's one great hope for the future it may be the fuel cell, which combines hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity. The only exhaust a fuel cell produces is water. Demands for clean air plus a need for reduced oil consumption have caused some automakers, particularly in Japan, to look for an interim solution. Thus was born the hybrid. In simplest terms, a hybrid combines a gasoline engine and an electric motor to provide adequate power with minimal fuel usage and low emissions. Hybrids do not need to be plugged into an electric outlet in order to be recharged. They charge themselves by using energy normally lost during coasting and braking, and can also be charged by the car's gasoline engine. The advantage is that the gasoline engine can then be quite small, since power is obtained from not one but two sources. When you consider that at highway speeds the average car requires only 20 horsepower to keep it running, a large gasoline engine makes little sense except for pulling heavy loads.Driving a hybrid is like any other car except for one thing. When the car is stopped for more than a few seconds, the gasoline engine is shut down automatically. This can be a little eerie at first, as you find yourself sitting in silence. But step on the accelerator and the electric motor gets the car underway until the gas engine cuts in. There is no starter in the conventional sense, since one isn't needed. And, due to their special use of technology, hybrid cars receive much higher gas mileage than the average U.S. vehicle. Hybrid cars hold the top spots for fuel economy in their respective categories: two-seaters, compact cars and mid-size cars.
