Hybrid Cars

Have you ever wondered looking at the spanking new Prius on the road, “How do hybrid cars work?” This is a legitimate questions since the technology is quite recent and due to the recent shortage of oil it has gained lot of admirers and staunch supporters. Gas-electric hybrids work in the same way as a normal gas powered vehicle with a simple difference. There is an electric engine inside the hybrid along with the conventional gas engine that is used when the car is being driven at low speeds. The gas engine comes to life automatically whenever the load on the car increases or the speed increases beyond a certain point. The best part about this is that you don’t have to be concerned with the whole process. It all happens automatically.

How does the electric engine get charged? No, you don’t have to charge it via a charging point. Adopting many techniques such as regenerative braking results in the charging of the batteries when you drive the vehicle itself. This is preferred more than simple electric cars which have limited range and need to be connected to a charging point every day.

Some cars have both the engines in parallel i.e. both can simultaneously drive the vehicle whereas some have a series connection. In this the gas engine never runs the vehicle directly. It runs a generator which either charges the batteries or powers the motor running the car. This is how a hybrid car works.