A hybrid car is a vehicle that uses two or even more distinct sources of power in order to get propelled. There are all sorts of alternative power sources among which we can count wind, natural gas in liquid or compressed form, rechargeable units, wood, coal and the like. The term hybrid car or vehicle is used most frequently to refer to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in which an internal combustion engine is combined with one or more electric motors.
As mentioned above, there are other hybrid vehicles beside the hybrid car we will mainly deal with here. Mopeds and electric bicycles make the most relevant of examples here. These are the simplest forms of hybrid vehicles. They combine the power from an internal combustion engine or electric motor with the power of the rider’s muscles. The heavy hybrids cover the industrial or supply vehicles such as ships, hydraulic machines, buses, locomotives and so on. Normally, the term hybrid car-vehicle is used to refer to hybrid electric vehicles. This range includes the next types of automotives: AHS2 (Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Silverado, Cadillac Escalade, Saturn Vue), Toyota Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight and many others. A gas-electric hybrid car usually takes its power from an internal combustion engine (gasoline or diesel engine) and an electric battery.
The origins of the hybrid car are to be found in the early 1900s when David Arthurs created the first hybrid ever. Other than the combination of gas engine and electric motor, there are other propulsion sources used, but for a single engine only. These are also considered by some people to be similar to the hybrid car. Actually the latter should be more appropriately called dual mode vehicles (electric trolleybuses, dual mode buses, flexible-fuel vehicles, etc).
A hybrid car presents a number of advantages from the environmental perspective and there are two sides to consider here. First of all, you get to do something for the environment and humankind, but you also save money on fuel. These two advantages and benefits brought about by the hybrid car are tributary to at least three elements in the design: the combination of gasoline and the electric motors, a battery with plenty of storage capacity and the possibility to re-capture important amounts of energy, which are normally wasted while braking.
