A Guide To Hybrid Cars
|
|
The search is on for the car that can provide the best gas mileage. With the price of gas skyrocketing, everyone wants a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Hybrid cars are obviously the best choice for lower fuel costs with the added benefit of lower polluting emissions. Are all hybrid cars alike? In some ways, yes, they are. Basically, a hybrid car is a combination of a gasoline engine and an electric motor. The technology uses an electric motor to store energy and conserve energy that traditional engines can't do. For example, during braking the energy that would normally go un-harnessed is stored as electricity in the battery for later use. The electric motor aids in acceleration or other needs for power and provides all the energy at low speeds, thereby saving gas because a smaller engine can be used. When the car stops, the engine is shut off automatically and restarted when you press the accelerator, saving energy and gas from idling. Each car has these basics, but the fine-tuning will be a little different accounting for the variations in gas mileage. Using a hybrid car comparison guide like this one, you can choose which would be best suited to your needs.
In the midsize category, the Toyota Prius wins hands down in fuel economy and emissions control. Using regular gasoline instead of the higher priced premium, the Prius is rated to get 60 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. That even beats out the best compact hybrid car. This dynamo will cost an average of $880 a year in fuel. Many people that are commuting are paying close to half of that a month right now. The icing on the cake is the rating in greenhouse emissions. The Prius ranks as the "best" on the www.fueleconomy.gov website's scale.
The next winning midsize cars are the Nissan Altima Hybrid and the Toyota Camry Hybrid. The Altima has 42 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. This is very close to the Camry, which is rated to get 40 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway. Again, these ratings beat some of the compact hybrid cars, making them a good choice for a family car that would provide more interior space with less greenhouse emissions.
The midsize hybrid cars that probably will not save that much on the price of fuel compared to regular vehicles are the Saturn Aura Hybrid and the Honda Accord Hybrid. With a rating of 28 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway for both cars, it doesn't differ much from straight gasoline burning cars. However, they both still do fairly well on the scale for greenhouse emissions. In compact hybrid cars, the Honda Civic Hybrid wins without argument. With a rating of 49 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, the owner of this vehicle can start saving money on fuel right away. On the greenhouse emissions scale, it is very close to the "best" rating. The worst compact hybrid in fuel economy guide is the Lexus GS 450h. This care costs the most of all the cars in this guide to fuel in a year since it gets only 25 mpg in the city and 28 on the highway. It still has decent greenhouse emissions ratings compared to straight gas burning cars, but it ranks the lowest of the hybrid cars in the comparison. Using a hybrid car comparison guide can help you see each car at once. If you don't use the one on www.fueleconomy.gov , you can find others on the internet just as helpful.
Privacy Policy
| 
