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A hybrid car is fuel-efficient in the manner in which it combines two disparate sources of energy. Electrical energy is the first source, stored in a rechargeable battery. The other is conventional gasoline as burned in the traditional internal combustion engine.
The premier benefit is a tax saving offered by the federal government as a subsidy for investing in a hybrid car. The credits allowed are not flat but vary according to conditions. The tax credit offered could well off-set the initial capital cost difference between a hybrid car and its conventional equivalent. Several states are following suit with incentives of their own, either in sales tax or excise.
Some financial institutions offer a lower interest rate on a loan for a hybrid car.
The immediately visible saving is in fuel costs.
A hybrid car comes in two versions. In one, both the electric motor and engine work simultaneously hence the need for a smaller, more efficient gas engine. In the other or more common version, the car starts to move on electric power. When it has attained a certain speed the internal combustion, or gasoline engine, takes over.
The car has a regenerative braking system. When it has to slow down, the motor becomes a generator charging the battery and simultaneously slowing down the vehicle because of the additional load imposed. In doing so, it utilizes the kinetic energy which would normally have been uselessly dissipated by the brakes.
The hybrid car holds its own in the city where there are frequent stoppages. At such times the engine is switched off and the electric motor takes over only when the car is ready to move.
With this innovative technology, the hybrid car consumes substantially less fuel than its conventional equivalent.
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