Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Hybrid Engine - What Exactly Is A Hybrid Engine?

Go to Hybrid Car Review for an updated version of hybrid engines and more tips about hybrid electric car.

What is a hybrid engine? What are the working principles of a hybrid engine? The hybrid engine is typically described as an engine with two alternative sources of energy: thus, on the one hand there is the gas part and on the other, there is an electrical battery that supports the gas system. Through this combination, the outcome is less pollution due to the electric component and the high power output of the gas engine. What can be said about the variety of hybrid engine types is that there are as many of them as there are hybrid cars. Taken individually a hybrid engine is designed as to enable the gas engine and the electric motor to work together to the drive train so as to power the vehicle and set it in motion.

How does the hybrid engine work? The principle on which any hybrid engine functions is quite simple. The hybrid engine works as follows: there is a combined effort of the gas engine and the brakes with the aim to recharge the battery of the electric motor; thus there is no more need to plug in overnight, as it would be the case with an electric only motor. When the brakes are pressed, some of the energy otherwise used to stop the car, is transfered by the restorative brakes in the electric motor.

In the case of a basic full hybrid engine, the electric component will take control while the vehicle is cruising, when it comes to a halt or when you accelerate it slowly. When extra energy or power is necessary, it is the gas engine’s turn to interfere to give the expected acceleration. In the case of the hybrid engine,we will achieve higher mpg than in the gas-only vehicles by letting the electric motor to take over.

The fact that most of the energy is renewed, and to a certain extent saved when the vehicle is stopped or slowed down, proves the superiority of hybrid vehicles in regular city use. Unlike what happens due to hybrid engine vehicles, for the gas-only engine cars, driving is more fuel efficient when racing at higher speeds, out of the city. The hybrid engine vehicles not only eliminate the need to plug in, but they have also extended the range of technical possibilities. One gets to protect the environment while still taking advantage of all the horsepower of a great car. We could truly say that the making of the hybrid engine represents the first step towards going totally green.

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