Some of the most debated issues in the world right now are global warming, and green house effect. Therefore, like all other people, car owners are also concerned about these. Not only this, but they are also very bothered because of the rising prices of gasoline. Therefore, to solve these problems, and to meet the needs of the customers, the auto industry has invented hybrid cars.

A vehicle that uses two or more different energy sources to run the engine are known as hybrid cars. These cars are commonly known as HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles), they have internal combustion engine, and electric motors. many other energy sources, apart from electric motors, are there that can be used in these cars such as hydrogen, compressed air, liquid nitrogen, wind, solar energy, and even coal, wood, and other solid combustibles.

The first question that arises is that why do we not simply use an electric car in order to eliminate the hazard of pollution and avoid high gasoline price rates? Why do we need this hybridization? In order to drive a car on the national highway, it should meet certain minimum requirements i.e. at least 300 miles before refuelling, ability to be refuelled easily and maintain an average speed near to those of the other vehicles on the road.

The electric cars do not produce any pollution, and do not require any gasoline to run on, but they do have some shortcomings such that they need a lot of time to recharge, they move at a very slow rate, and that they need to be recharged after every 100 miles. Whereas, there are no such problems for the gasoline engines, but they contribute a lot to global warming, and prove to be very expensive because of the rising gas prices.

Therefore, hybrid car is made, which has the positive factor of both types if engines. It reduces the shortcomings of an electric car by increasing the mileage, and reducing the emissions of the gas powered cars.

The hybrid car is a mix of both, it has a gasoline engine, which is smaller than ordinary cars, uses advanced technologies to reduce emissions, and increase efficiency, and a fuel tank. The fuel tank is an energy storage device for the gasoline engine, a sophisticated electric motor, which can act as a motor (to draw energy from the batteries to accelerate the car), as well as a generator (to slow down vehicle, and return energy to the batteries). These hybrid cars also have transmission and batteries, which function as a storage device for the electric motor.

These hybrid engines can be set in two manners, parallel, or series. The parallel engines operate by using both the engines at the same time, which collectively turns the transmission on. The fuel tank supplies gas to the engines, while, the batteries supply power to the electric motor. In case of series hybrid, the vehicle does not get energy directly from the gasoline engine. The gasoline engine rotates the generator, and the generator in turn either charges the batteries, or energises the electric motor that drives the transmission.

The basic purpose of the invention of hybrid cars was not only to improve the mileage but also to reduce toxic emissions. The hybrid cars have successfully met these purposes so far. These cars have been successful in meeting the grams/mile limit, which has been standardised by many countries. They have also proved to be very economical, as the gasoline prices are rising greatly.

Browse the Lexus range of Hybrid Cars and book a test drive online, visit the Lexus website for more information.