How Hybrid Vehicles Work Hybrid Car Refueling
Simply speaking, a hybrid vehicle is one that runs on a combination of two types of fuel sources. Hybrid cars are becoming more and more desirable with the cost of fuel constantly rising and subject to so many variables that effect its price. Hybrid vehicles are the way of the future, and are long overdue in their availability to consumers. How they work however, is a mystery to many people, and even looking at the engine of a hybrid vehicle is confusing to many, mechanics included.
Typically a hybrid vehicle has both an internal combustion component to the engine, as well as an additional electrical component. Hybrids typically start up by using the internal combustion component of the engine, and then at a certain speed the electrical component takes over and the fuel economy of the vehicle is greatly improved. The electrical part of a hybrid engine can be charged in a variety of ways but the most efficient is to use the energy created by the internal combustion part of the engine and store that energy in the batteries that supply the electrical part of the motor with power.
This is quite efficient considering how much energy is wasted by a strictly gasoline powered engine; in the same way that the engine of a car charges the battery once it is running, the batteries of a hybrid can be charged in the same manner. This is what has made the internal combustion engine obsolete for many years, the amount of unused energy that is created by the consumption of fuel, but that is not stored in any way. Hybrid vehicles take advantage of this overflow of energy, but they can also be charged in other ways as well. Some cars can be plugged into a power outlet and charged in that fashion, and this is one idea that may spark a whole new concept in refueling and the design of fueling stations.
Instead of seeing gasoline pumps at convenient stores, it may be a common sight in the future to see plug-in outlets at not only stations but possibly even at people's places of employment. Parking meters in larger cities may one day have accompanying outlets for the purpose of recharging while at work, or wherever you may be. Hybrid vehicles are efficient in design and in the long run may save consumers thousands of dollars in fuel costs in the years to come.
