Hybrid cars make a new breed

Emily Prendergast

 

The battery-powered engine whirrs to life as the tires spin on the asphalt, accelerating quickly down the driveway into the street out front. The little blond-haired boy giggles as he watches the car drive away into the distance.

 

Generally, one would assume that this little boy was holding a controller for a remote-controlled car of some sort in his tiny hands. However, this is not the case. The car backing out of the driveway was a hybrid car. 

 

Hybrid cars are the new generation of automobiles. Like the Model T, they mark the dawning of a new era for the automobile industry-- and for the rest of society. Hybrid cars have been showing up more and more all over town, and getting noticed because of their aerodynamic features and futuristic look.

 

"They're really cool. I saw one on 144^th and Maple when I was going to Burger King, and I didn't know what it was," said sophomore Andra Woods. "It was really weird."

 

So what exactly makes a car a hybrid? According to Karim Nice, writer for Howstuffworks.com, "Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power." Take, for example, a mo-ped. It combines a gasoline engine with the pedal power of its rider.

 

The hybrid cars on the market today are called "series hybrid" cars, which differ from pure electric cars because they have a gasoline engine as well as the battery-powered engine. In series hybrids, the gasoline engine turns a generator and the generator can then either charge the battery or power an electric motor that drives the transmission. This means that the car never needs to be plugged in and the gasoline engine never directly powers the vehicle.

 

Because of this unique feature, series hybrid cars are very good for the environment. Regular gas-powered cars emit twice as many harmful pollutants into the air. Hybrids cut down greatly on carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions, two chemicals that are thought to contribute to the breakdown of the atmosphere, which leads to global warming.

 

"I'd think they'd be expensive, because new technology generally is," said junior Alee Taylor.

 

Although this is a common belief, hybrid cars are actually a cost-conscious choice when looking for a new car. The Honda Civic hybrid, for example, starts at $19,650, and buyers are eligible for a one-time, $2,000 Clean-Fuel Vehicle federal tax deduction.

 

In addition to this great price, hybrid cars use less than half the amount of gas that the average gasoline engine uses. The Toyota Prius gets an average of 48 miles per gallon, while the Toyota Camry gets a mere 27.5. This adds up to less money spent on gas, and on the total package hybrid cars present.

 

"They [hybrid cars] are going to be a big thing of the future, but you know who's going to fight that? Petroleum companies," said substitute teacher Terry Frazier. "It'll be interesting to see what happens."