Some of the most debated issues in the world right now are global warming, and green house effect. Therefore, like all other people, car owners are also concerned about these. Not only this, but they are also very bothered because of the rising prices of gasoline. Therefore, to solve these problems, and to meet the needs of the customers, the auto industry has invented hybrid cars.

The engines of a hybrid cars runs by using two or more types of different energy sources. The most commonly used term for these hybrid cars is HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles). They use an internal combustion engines, and electric motors. Along with electric motors, there are many other energy sources that can be used such as hydrogen, compressed air, liquid nitrogen, wind, solar energy, and even coal, wood and other solid combustibles.

The most common thing that pops up in our mind is that if we are so much concerned about the issue of pollution then why do not we switch to electric cars? Why do we need to hybridise a car for this purpose? The simple answer to this is that they do not meet the certain requirements if you want to drive on the national high way. These requirements includes that the car should run at least 300 miles before refuelling, it has the ability to be refuelled easily, and it can maintain an average speed near to those of the other vehicles on the road.

Although electric cars produce almost no pollution and do not require any gasoline, their recharging is time-consuming, they move with a comparatively sluggish pace, and require a recharge after a maximum of 100 miles. Gasoline engines on the other hand meet these requirements easily, but have costly fuel consumption and are a huge contributor to global warming.

Hybrid cars are a bridge and a compromise between these two types of engines, utilizing the positive attributes of both and minimizing their negative impacts. It tries to considerably increase the mileage and reduce the emissions of a gas-powered car, while overcoming the limitations of an electric car.

A hybrid car has a gasoline engine, which is smaller than ordinary cars, uses advanced technologies to reduce emissions and increase efficiency, a fuel tank, which is an energy storage device for the gasoline engine, a sophisticated electric motor, which can act as a motor (to draw energy from the batteries to accelerate the car), as well as a generator (to slow down vehicle and return energy to the batteries). Apart from that, HEVs include transmission and batteries which act as a storage device for the electric motor.

These hybrid engines can be set in two manners, parallel, or series. The parallel engines operate by using both the engines at the same time, which collectively turns the transmission on. The fuel tank supplies gas to the engines, while, the batteries supply power to the electric motor. In case of series hybrid, the vehicle does not get energy directly from the gasoline engine. The gasoline engine rotates the generator, and the generator in turn either charges the batteries, or energises the electric motor that drives the transmission.

The basic objective behind the invention of hybrid cars is to improve mileage, and to reduce the toxic emissions. All this has been successfully achieved with this car. Some countries have grams/mile limit, which has also been successfully met by these vehicles. This investment has proved to be very profitable, as it has reduced the gas expenses considerably.

Browse the Lexus range of Hybrid Cars and book a test drive online, visit the Lexus website for more information.