ALT-11 Hybrid Overview
Since man first found the need to venture very far from his home cave, the quest for the perfect mode of transportation has been never ending. He learned that the horses he'd been barbecueing could save a lot of wear and tear on human feet, and he discovered how to use water as a travel venue. Always seeking improvement, man discovered hybrids, like a ship that was powered by both rowers and by the wind. He learned to cross a horse with an ass to get not a horse's ass, but a mule, which had superior work qualities than either parent. If you were around in the sixties, you probably remember the popular mo-ped that could be pedaled like a bicycle or run with an engine, like a motorcycle. So transportation hybrids are nothing new.
What is new, however, are the car hybrids on the market today. This hybrid is basically a typical car that's powered by the usual gasoline combustion engine, as well as by electricity.I'm basically a technology idiot, but the hybrid car works something like this: The hybrid car has a normal engine, which uses gas or diesel, and an electric motor that uses battery power. And no, you don't have to run out and buy batteries all the time. They have their own batteries that recharge themselves, using any extra energy created by the combustion engine and storing it in the batteries. Remember those tiny, cute electric cars that never caught on? The ones you had to plug in for hours just to do a little running around town? The new hybrids are different. They switch effortlessly from one power source to the other, so you don't have to worry about "going dead" after a few miles. Don't be intimidated by all this technology. Driving a hybrid is virtually the same as driving any other car. You don't have to understand all the "mumbo jumbo" to take advantage of the technology.
The only real downside of purchasing a hybrid is the initial cost. Expect the sticker price to be significantly higher. But the money you save in fuel alone, especially with gas prices rising to over $3 a gallon, will recoup the purchase price over time, depending on how much you drive. They hybrids can average over 50 miles to the gallon. Another benefit is far more reaching - hybrids' emissions are only about 10% of standard vehicles, so they help save our environment, too.
Another plus to buying a hybrid is the incentives offered by national, state, and local goverments. Tax rebates are available to encourage consumers to purchase these new modes of travel. Also, a growing number of cities are offering special commuter lanes for hybrid car drivers, which could save traffic-frenzied workers a lot of time and aggravation.
Toyota's Prius is the most popular hybrid on the market, but you can also choose from Hondas, Saturns, or even trucks with the new engines. As consumers discover the necessity and advantages of owning hybrids, more models are sure to become available, eventually offering as many choices as a car shopper faces now with the endless sea of traditional vehicles.
During the last hundred years or so, which is just a twinkling of an eye historically speaking, man has been quickly using up the earth's resources. They will eventually run out. We are also ruining the very air we breathe because of our demand for quick, easy transportation. Hybrid cars are the wave of the future, and with the number of cars on the road today, they can have a huge impact in helping ensure that we do indeed have a future.
