Hybrid Car

Executive Summary by Brenda Williams

hybrid car

Hybrid cars, which combine internal combustion engines with a rechargeable energy system, have become an increasingly visible sight on the highway. The first version of a hybrid car dates back to 1901, when Ferdinand Porshe, a French automobile developer, created the “Mixte,” a car that ran off a gasoline-powered electrical generator. Porsche later developed the original model of the Volkswagen Beetle, while his son, Ferry Porsche helped create the world-famous Porsche sports cars.

The modern-day hybrid car has its roots in the 1970s, when Victor Wouk, called “The Grandfather of the Hybrid,” developed a prototype hybrid car, the Buick Skylark. This system allows hybrid cars to convert a part of their kinetic energy (energy of motion) into electricity, which is then stored in their batteries. In this way, a hybrid car is able to conserve power, and use energy more efficiently.

The Prius soon became the most popular hybrid car, offering up to 40 percent more fuel efficiency than combustion-based models. Hybrid cars have become increasingly popular, boasting a 100,000 increase in sales in 2007, a year when overall light-vehicle sales declined. About 350,000 hybrid cars were sold in 2007, marking their biggest year ever.

The Benefits of a Hybrid Car

Execitive Summary Karim Nice and Julia Layton

The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions and toimprove mileage. Let’s take the example of the California emissions standards, which dictate how much of each type of pollution a car is allowed to emit in California.

That pollution will have to be removed by the emissions control equipment on the car. So decreasing the fuel consumption of the car is one of the surest ways to decrease emissions.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is another type of pollution a car produces. The current standards require that the average mileage of all the new cars sold by an auto maker should be 27.5 mpg (8.55 liters per 100 km).

This means that if an auto maker sells one hybrid car that gets 60 mpg (3.92 liters per 100 km), it can then sell four big, expensive luxury cars that only get 20 mpg (11.76 liters per 100 km).

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Car, Hybrid Car, Hybrid Vehicle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.