Hybrid Cars
THE Future
Introduction
What are the types of Hybrid Cars and how does Regenerative braking work?
There are two types of Hybrid cars, one is called Series Hybrid and the other is called Parallel Hybrid.
The Series hybrid is powered by electric motor, to run the wheels. The fuel goes to the engine, engine produces power for the generator, then the generator sends electricity to the charger. The charger then sends an electric charge to the battery pack which charges it. The battery pack sends an electric charge to the controller, which controls how much voltage is put into the motors. Then finally the motor rotates the wheels. This seems like a long process but it takes a few seconds to get the wheels to move.
The parallel hybrids work like this- when you start the engine and you are in low speeds a hybrid car runs on electric power only. When you reach higher speeds the petrol engine kicks in. When the car is running on pure diesel and petrol it charges the battery pack.
When a hybrid car brakes the electric motor converts the kinetic energy into electricity and charges the battery, this is called Regenerative braking system.
Pulse and Glide technique of driving
This is the technique to be used by owners, in order to balance the car's use of electricity and gas when the speeds range between 45 to 65 kph. By this the mileage could be better.
What are the benefits of having a Hybrid car
- save on fuel as they do not need so much fuel as an internal combustion engined car
-emission of pollutants is less
-You get a $7250 from the Government because you are polluting the air with less carbon dioxide which means you are helping to prevent Global warming
- the external damages to the car could be repaired/replaced at a lower cost compared to the normal cars
The Complaints of Hybrid car
-The looks of the cars are not that appealing.
-the biggest problem is the milage as the drivers struggle to get the manufacturer’s claim of mileage. The owners are frustrated as they struggle to relearn how to drive so that they can use pulse and glide technique by using a combination of fancy pedal work and watching arrows on the dashboard.
- the silence of the engine is a threat to the pedestrians especially children, old and hard of hearing people though the engineers are trying to incorporate some noise on to it.
- series hybrid cars perform badly in certain weather conditions especially during the cold season the battery needs to be warmed up.
- they are quite slow and because of this complaint some of the car manufacturers
responded to this complaint and made one of the fastest cars. They are Mclaren P1, Porsche 918 and the LaFerrari.Conclusion
Yes, Hybrid cars are awesome even though there are many glitches that they need to fix and they don’t keep up to the manufacturer’s claims!! But we have to acknowledge the fact that diesel and petrol that we drive had glitches that were fixed over time.
I hope the future engineers evolve with fantastic hybrid cars with wonderful performance and looks. And I hope that you now go and buy yourself a new Hybrid car.
Work cited
Teahupoo. "Some Negatives About Hybrid Cars." Some Negatives About Hybrid Cars. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
Series Hybrid Cars - Explained." YouTube. YouTube, 08 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"BrainPOP - Hybrid Cars - Movie." Hybrid Cars. N.p., 1999. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.