Chemistry in Hybrid Cars
What is the chemistry in hybrid cars? Where does the power come from and what chemical reactions occur? How do hybrids work? What are the types of hybrids? Learn now.
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Your car’s engine must have two or more sources of power in order to call it a hybrid. Most of those sold in the market use gasoline and electricity. We have used gasoline for a very long time and electricity is something new and just like the first, a little chemistry in hybrid cars enable it to work.
But let’s remember first how does gasoline powered car works. The gasoline that we put into the vehicle turns the transmission and this is what makes the wheels turn. Using electricity follows the same principle because with a set of batteries, it provides power to an electric motor that will turn the transmission and then turn the wheels.
The idea of using electricity to power a car is nothing new given that this is used in golf cars. The only problem was that you had to plug it in to recharge the batteries . Todayís hybrid cars donít have to be plugged in because the batteries inside the vehicle are recharged every time you step on the brakes better known as regenerative braking.
There are two types of gasoline electric hybrid cars in the market namely the parallel hybrid and the series hybrid .
With a parallel hybrid, both gasoline and an electric motor power the car. In a series hybrid, you use gasoline or electricity separately to move your vehicle.
The nice thing about hybrid cars is that there are no carbon emissions and you donít use up a lot of gasoline compared to a conventional car. If you open the hood, you will notice that the reason for this is the small engine and this is replaced with huge rechargeable batteries .
To compensate for the weight of the batteries, manufacturers use lightweight batteries as the body of the vehicle like aluminum fiber or carbon fiber. While some may think that this will not provide adequate protection to the driver and the passengers, test have shown that it can withstand a major accident.
Another way to make the car go faster is the aerodynamic design so that it can keep up with conventional cars in city and highway driving .
Believe it or not, hybrid cars use low rolling resistance tires because the conventional tires causes a significant amount of drag in these vehicles. To cut that down, specially designed tires were created and it reduced drag by half.
If you think that such technology makes the hybrid car hard to maintain, think again because studies have shown that it is cheaper than what you will pay for when you use a conventional car. The warranty is also much longer and this includes both the engine and the battery.
Note: Read more about the first hybrid car .
But the batteries used in most hybrid cars to day are designed to last for a very long time. Today’s batteries are made from nickel and lithium which are much safer than nickel and cadmium because it can be fully recycled.
Since 2000 until the present, Toyota claims that when they introduced their Prius in the US market, they have not yet replaced a single car battery.
The number of people who own hybrid cars has steadily increased over the past 8 years. You can argue that the price of oil is one factor but even when the price of gas at the pumps has gone down, there are still people willing to trade in their old SUV for this vehicle which is a more fuel efficient one.
Will there ever come a time that hybrid cars will be replaced by vehicles that run on other renewable sources of energy? The answer is yes because BMW was able to create a hybrid which is powered by gasoline and hydrogen. This just means that maybe in 15 or 20 years from now, you will see cars on the road using another energy source.
The chemistry in hybrid cars is not about combining one or two elements but really taking into consideration certain factors to make the vehicle road worthy. By putting in a smaller engine and a large rechargeable battery in the hood, you make the car consume less gasoline making it environment friendly. By using lighter weight materials and using an aerodynamic design, you make the car just as safe and fast as others on the road.
Recommended Reading
- Looking for a Hybrid Car Dealer?
- Top 10 Best Hybrid Cars
- What is Hypermiling?
- Disadvantages of Hybrid Cars
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