It’s no news flash that petrol doesn’t appear to be getting any cheaper. People everywhere are asking what they can do to save fuel, and often the answer is to change your car to one that’s more fuel efficient. That’s simple, right? But what type of car should you choose? Just maybe, you should try a hybrid car.

Hybrid’s are the talk of the town these days. Current hybrids like the Toyota Prius & the Honda Civic Hybrid are both stylish and available in great colours, they will make your daily commute less expensive and more enjoyable. Once you examine the characteristics of a hybrid, how could you not choose to run to the car dealer right now and buy one? Well, we all wish we could just simply do that, but before you run out and take the plunge, maybe you should learn a bit more about these cars.

A hybrid car is a vehicle that uses an electric motor combined with a conventional internal combustion engine. A combination of a conventional propulsion system and a rechargeable battery bank installed onboard the vehicle work together to give the vehicle better fuel economy than conventional petrol or diesel cars, that’s the generalised theory anyway.

Top Hybrid Cars of 2008 is a video I found that might interest you, take a look.

Hybrid cars work differently to battery electric vehicles because the battery bank used in a hybrid car does not require charging from an external source. Instead, in order to get a charge, kinetic energy is generated by way of regenerative braking. Furthermore, some hybrid cars make use of their own combustion engine to create electricity. The combustion engine does this by spinning an electrical generator or alternator . The spinning does one of two things. It can either recharge the battery or in a more direct way, it can cut out the middleman and give power directly to the electric motor. This motor is what then drives the vehicle.

Therefore, because this fuel-sipping vehicle can generate its own electricity, it is very different from a vehicle that is run strictly on batteries. But, there is no waiting while your car charges up outside in the garage before you go to work. All you have to do is get into the car and drive.

It is true that some people have experimented with electrical vehicles in the past. However, the introduction of the hybrid cars outdid these types of cars when they came on the scene.

Because the hybrid car is so innovative in the way it powers itself and the way it is able to save you money on fuel, it’s currently believed to be the car of the future. At least that’s what many car makers believe, and many consumers agree with them. In the next generation of new cars, a factory fitted ‘bolt-on’ hybrid should become available from many makers, there are many rumours in the industry to suggest that this new wave of bolt-on hybrid options will become a reality. Hybrid cars are expected by some to become the industry standard in the very near future.

So if you want a car that’s enviromentally friendly, saves you money on fuel, and benefits from a lower road tax band, perhaps you should invest in a hybrid. As the car industry is still too far away from a viable hydrogen/water fuel alternative, buying a hybrid electric vehicle is probably the most sensible alternative for those looking to buy a new car today.

This car that you believe is more fuel-efficient than a hybrid car, must be hidden in the back of a dealership behind the red, green, and yellow cars. It must be stuck between a big SUV and a van somewhere.

And what does it take to fuel this car? You don’t know the answer to that question. You barely know if this type of car exists. But there just has to be something out there better than a hybrid car. You insist that it’s true.

Well, there are a few choices for you. You could be thinking that a very small conventional car is more fuel-efficient than a hybrid car. You could be thinking that an electric car is better than a hybrid car. You could also be thinking that the dealership employees must have some cars in the back that they are creating on the spot that run on anything but gasoline and batteries. These cars, you think to yourself, would be better buys than hybrid cars.

Well, electric cars don’t get better fuel-efficiency than hybrid cars mainly because a lot of times electric cars don’t even need gas to power them, so you can’t even compare electric cars to hybrid cars.

A small conventional is definitely not more fuel-efficient than a hybrid car because no conventional car is.

And there are not any just-made cars sitting in the back somewhere. Car dealerships don’t make cars. They sell them.

But the final answer to the question is the new fuel-economy numbers that have been issued by the EPA. Those numbers conclude that the most fuel-efficient cars available to the public when looking at 2008 models are hybrid cars. Just the Toyota Prius as an example has a combined highway or city mileage of 46. This and other hybrid cars have overcome the 40 miles per gallon mark.

So, it looks like there are no new discoveries to be made at the auto dealer. And that’s a good thing. You wouldn’t want to be outdone by the Joneses because you thought you bought a great car, but you saw that they had a better, more fuel-efficient one. Nope, that’s not going to be you. Now you are armed with the knowledge that hybrid cars are the most fuel-efficient cars around and until automakers start to come up with more ideas, a hybrid car is what you have to work with.

However, advancements in fuel-efficient cars are on the horizon. Auto manufacturers are working on plug-in hybrids, battery-electric cars, and gas-engine systems that are more efficient. So look out, your dream car is coming soon. But if for now, you just buy a hybrid, you won’t regret it.

As I said earlier, the panels at the Austin Alt Car expo were heavily focused on plug-in vehicles. The last discussion on Friday continued the trend and was called “Future Prospects for Plug-in Hybrids” and the participants acknowledged that their presentations were treading over some of the same ground that earlier panelists had covered. Still, Mark Duvall of EPRI and Susan Zielinski of CARSS did add a few new tidbits to the discussion and if you’re a PHEV fanatic, you’ll find something in the write-up and audio included after the break that’ll be of interest.

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: Future Prospects for Plugin hybrids

If you demand it, companies will come up with it. This has never been more apparent than with hybrid autos, the companies answer to a consumer nation that has become more environmentally aware.

The day you knew hybrids were here to stay was the day car companies started announcing hybrid SUVs. Imagine, all the size and little of the guilt. That being said, there are some misconceptions about hybrids, so lets address the big two.

Buy any old hybrid and you will get a major tax credit. This is the first myth that arises around the hybrid. Can you get a tax credit? Yes, but you must comply with certain requirments issues by none other than the Internal Revenue Service.

If you want to claim a tax credit for buying a hybrid, you have to comply with a few regulations. First, you have to purchase a brand new hybrid. Second, the IRS must have ceritifed the car. Third, you can only claim the amount then available.

The funny thing about the tax benefit of purchasing a hybrid is it is a moving target. The IRS initially sets an upper limi and then has the option to lower that amount each quarter of the year after it analyzes the number of cars sold.

This lowering of tax credit amounts can be a real shock to someone that purchased a hybrid. As of the writing of this article, the famous Toyota Prius is about to lose all of its tax credit. One has to think that fact is going to hurt sales.

Many people are outraged by the phasing out of the tax credit available for hybrids, particularly the manufacturers. Talk about a selling point! The credit, however, was never meant to support an industry, only generate interest in it.

A second area of misunderstanding with the hybrid vehicle has to do with the batteries. Obviously, the car requires special batteries. There is a myth that they have to be replaced every 40,000 miles. This is alleged to be a big problem because they are expensive.

In truth, there is no requirement that hybrid batteries be changed every 40,000 miles or so. Most brands come with warranties of up to 100,000 miles. Although hybrids are fairly new, the batteries are reported to last well into the hundreds of thousands of miles.

Should you make your next vehicle a hybrid? If you want to cut your driving costs and help the environment, then the answer is definitely yes. Just make sure to buy it new and check with the IRS on your tax credit amount.

Want to see how you can get hybrid-like fuel economy out of your current vehicle? Click Here for my best tip on how to improve fuel economy for your current vehicle – hybrid or not!