Battery technology is undergoing extremely swift development. Previously, the batteries used were of the nickel-metal hydride type but in the most recent hybrid cars and also in the forthcoming models, lithium-ion batteries are fitted, giving longer range and better driving properties. Thus far, hybrid technology incurs considerable extra costs. Just how much depends on the variant chosen – the further you want to be able to drive on electric power, the more battery power is needed, which affects the car’s cost.

At present there are five different hybrid car variants. They are listed below from the lowest degree of electrification to the highest (battery sizes are examples and can vary).

1. Micro hybrid Often called a Micro HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle). A start/stop function means the engine switches off when the car is at a standstill and restarts when the driver presses the accelerator. This is possible owing to the installation of a more powerful starter motor (4 kilowatts) compared with the normal 1.4 kW. The battery is a regular 12 volt starter battery. According to NEDC (New European Driving Cycle – the European driving cycle used by all car manufacturers for calculating fuel consumption) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reduced by 4-5 percent compared with a corresponding car without the start/stop function.

2. Medium hybrid (Medium HEV). This variant has a 10-15 kilowatt electric motor and a more powerful battery compared with the micro-hybrid, with an output of about one kilowatt-hour (kWh). Thanks to a generator located by the rear axle, the medium hybrid generates energy when the car brakes, energy that can be subsequently used for acceleration. CO2 reduction according to NEDC is about 10 percent.

3. Full hybrid (Parallel Powersplit HEV). Has an even more powerful electric motor of about 35 kW and a more powerful two kWh battery that allows the energy generated during braking to be stored and utilised even more efficiently. With a full hybrid, it is possible to drive about one kilometre on the electricity that is generated. This variant offers approximately 20 percent carbon dioxide reduction.

4. Plug-in hybrid (PHEV, Parallel Powersplit Plug-in HEV). Same principle as the full hybrid, but with an even more powerful electric motor (50-100 kilowatts) and even more battery power, up to 15 kWh. It can be recharged via a regular wall socket and can be driven for about 50 kilometres on electricity, after which the combustion engine automatically takes over. Here it is possible to achieve a CO2 reduction of around 70 percent. For e.g. Volvo ReCharge Concept.

5. Series hybrid SHEV (Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle). It has more powerful electric motor (100 kW) with a 50 kW generator and more powerful battery (15-20 kWh) than in the plug-in hybrid. Recharged from a regular wall socket and can be driven up to 60 kilometres on electric power. Here it is the electric motor that propels the car while the combustion engine is used only to produce electricity for the batteries when they need to be recharged. The powerful electric motor means it is possible to use a smaller combustion engine, such as a three-cylinder petrol or diesel engine. This hybrid variant too can achieve about 70 percent lower CO2 emissions.

All five variants thus include a conventional combustion engine, so there is never any risk of coming to a standstill at the roadside because battery power has run out.

The step beyond hybrid cars is the dedicated electric car without any combustion engine, the BEV, (Battery Electric Vehicle). This is recharged via a wall socket and runs solely on electricity. With today’s technology the range would be 150-200 kilometres (depending on battery size). Carbon dioxide reduction is 100 percent – the car produces no carbon dioxide emissions at all.

Know more about Volvo XC90 – Luxury SUV in India and Volvo S80 – Luxury Sedan in India.

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A lot of people are starting to own hybrid cars. So, what is it about hybrid cars that is now attracting more and more people to get one for their own?

To begin with, if you’re a hybrid driver, you’ll likely find that you’re paying about half as much on fuel. Gas prices are always going up and doesn’t seem to drop. When you compare a hybrid car to a gas guzzler’s fuel economy, hybrid cars will enable you to cut fuel consumption in half. That spells less time wasted at the pump.

The government is also taking steps to promote the hybrid technology. Back in 2005, the President signed a bill into law that gives serious tax relief to hybrid car buyers.

Some cities and states even offer hybrid owners breaks on parking and tolls as well!

Hybrid cars are also better for the planet. Using a combination of an electric motor and gasoline engine, hybrids emit less pollution.

By having two types of power working together, gasoline and electric, a hybrid can reach higher speeds with less effort, it can also use less energy in stop and go traffic. The hybrid fuel cell vehicle was created as a direct result of the demand that the automobile industry create cars less reliant on foreign oil and less polluting for the planet. Keep in mind that the car doesn’t require any charging via an electrical substation in order to run at full power. Hybrid cars charge themselves by means of power usually lost during coasting and braking and can also be charged by the car’s gasoline engine.

Hybrid cars also offer a great return on investment. A hybrid also tends to carry a resale value closer to the cost of the initial sale tag. Anyone looking to sell or trade a pre-owned hybrid should can rest assured that they will receive their money’s worth. One complaint among potential hybrid buyers is the often prohibitive price versus the lower cost of similar-sized combustion engine cars. That being said, the hybrid car still wins out by saving its owners big money in the long run on gas.

In conclusion, if you’re in the market for a car that runs cleaner, quieter and far more fuel efficient, you’ll want to start shopping for a hybrid car.

Interested to know more about hybrid cars? Visit us at: http://www.hybridcarsmoney.com today for more information.

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Warranties are perpetually a blessing and a pain when it comes to any major appliance, and cars these days are no different. Thankfully, with these new hybrid cars running around, the warranties on hybrids are typically better than gas-powered vehicles, and one reason is that you are paying so much more for them upfront, as well as the fact that manufacturers have enough faith in the actual value of hybrid cars, especially in the long run. To be blunt, the manufacturers don’t honestly think that the car is going to need repairs during the warranty period, because the parts are meant to last. That doesn’t always happen, though, and it’s important to look at what exactly you’re in for.

1. What’s Actually Covered – Okay, so, let’s figure out what’s actually covered in your warranty. For most standard warranties on hybrids, the actual battery pack, as well as the hybrid’s parts are under warranty for 100,000 miles or 8 years, and if you’re lucky, as far as 150,000 miles or 10 years. That depends on the state where you buy the car and live in, but either way, this at least covers when parts go bad for no apparent reason, or something happens to fail in a bizarre way. Even manufacturer defects are covered. Many other hybrids also have an additional warranty which is standard, giving you much of the same warranty coverage like a conventional vehicle, which is about 3 years.

If you’re lucky, you might have the power train warranty, which takes care of items like the engine, seat belts, airbags, and even the front-wheel and rear-wheel drives, and tends to last around 5 years. The major thing to look out for is that most warranties assume you’ll at least travel 12,000 miles, and that is per year. If you don’t actually take advantage of that, you’ll lose money and will be wasting the money you spent on your warranty.

2. The Really Fine Print – Okay, so, here’s the tricky and sucky part. Not everything is covered on your warranty, and so you need to be sure you actually take good car of a hybrid vehicle. Otherwise, when you suddenly forget to find a mechanic in the area, then that snowballed into forgetting to chance the oil for an entire year, well, you’re probably out of luck.

3. Should I Keep Going – The last question is to figure out if you even really think it’ll be worth picking up a hybrid and then getting the warranty in the first place. Thankfully, when you buy a hybrid, the extended warranty is a blessing, especially if that battery pack you’re expecting to last forever happens to fail right at the 100,001 mark. The hard part is that the extended warranty may cover your battery problem, but look out at how expensive it could be up front. The dealer, the type of warranty, and even information about yourself may be incredibly important in trying to figure out which warranty to get.

Thankfully, many of the extended warranties are actually worth the money. Just make sure not to go with dealer-specific warranties, non-transferable warranties, non-refundable warranties and any program that says you need to pay them right upfront. Also, be sure that if you buy a warranty, it’ll allow you to go to a licensed mechanic in your area, as the last thing you want is to find out that you don’t have anywhere to repair it from.

A word to the wise, though: While a warranty is a great safety net, there is a lot of fine print on what doesn’t get covered by the warranty so make sure to read it all.

To learn more about hybrid cars visit hybridcarchat.com and check out the hybrid forums. You will receive the free guide to increasing your car’s fuel efficiency once you join.

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According to several environmental researchers, that is not the problem. There are several kinds of hybrid car batteries. Some of these batteries are less toxic, while some contain more toxic elements. For instance, Lead-Acid and Nickel-Cadmium batteries are not environmentally friendly, but still, their toxic levels and their impact to the environment are low.

The production of Lithium-Ion batteries is growing rapidly. Most of today’s hybrid cars use Lithium-Ion batteries as one of their power supply. Toyota was the very first company to use this type of battery in its vehicle. Toyota Vitz, a small compact car which is only available in Japan, uses Lithium-Ion battery packs to power the air conditioner, lights in the gauges, head lights, and the heater while the car is in idle, allowing the car to save gasoline.

By far, the wildest vision of the Lithium-Ion battery is featured in Volvo 3CC. This concept electric car, unveiled in 2004, depends exclusively on its 3,000 Li-ion cells which provide all the power. Each cell is approximately the size of a AA battery. The battery pack gives the vehicle 105 horsepower and reduces the car’s emission to zero.

By using batteries, hybrid cars are less powerful and slower, but the researches are still going on to improve the functionality of these cars and to make it faster and safer.

To read more about hybrid car battery technology, go to Hybrid Car Freak – The Most Useful Hybrid Car Resource Website.

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Hybrid cars are environment friendly cars. Hybrid cars give out very less smoke and also use very less gasoline as compared to other cars. As far as the cost is concerned the Hybrid cars are economical too. Hybrid cars are better than electric vehicles too as the Hybrid cars have rechargeable batteries which get recharged at the same time you are driving.

Hybrid cars use multiple energy sources. When the Hybrid cars are driven some of the combustion engine output goes into a generator which then generates electricity to charge the batteries. Many Hybrid cars use gasoline as fuel. Diesel and other fuels have also benn occasional useed in Hybrid cars.

The combustion engine of Hybrid cars are smaller and lighter. The Hybrid cars are more efficient than the other vehicles. Hybrid cars are innovative, efficient and affordable to use.

Deepak Bansal is an internet marketing consultant having experience of 4.5 years in search engine optimization industry. We are specialist in website copywriting, Blog articles, Case studies and white papers, E-newsletters, Interactive presentations, Press releases. This article is written by content writing team of http://www.deepakbansal.com – Internet Marketing Company

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