Hybrid Cars, Types of Hybrid Cars and How They Work
In November 2007, the State of California sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency because of the agency’s two year delay in approving a waiver which would have permitted the state to impose new and tougher pollution regulations on new motor vehicles under the Federal Clean Air Act. California has previously used this act to require cars to have catalytic converters installed as well as computers to warn drivers’ when their anti-pollution equipment fails. By introducing these regulations, California hopes to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a cause of global warming. It also wants to encourage manufacturers to produce more fuel efficient, and less polluting cars and trucks. Full hybrid cars, part hybrid cars and fuel-cell cars which run on water will comply with these new regulations.
Hybrid cars combine an internal combustion engine with a generator, electric motor and power split device. The generator produces electricity which is then stored in a large battery. The generator uses the energy produced when the car is in motion or braking to produce the electricity stored in the battery. When the hybrid car needs extra power, it draws energy from the battery to power the electric motor.
What are Hybrid Cars and how do they work?
Hybrid cars combine the benefits of gasoline engines and electric motors and can be configured to obtain different objectives, such as improved fuel economy, increased power, or additional auxiliary power for electronic devices and power tools.
A hybrid car’s engine provides most of the power and the electrical motor provides extra power when needed, such as when the car is accelerating or passing. This allows the car manufacturer to use a smaller, lighter, and more fuel efficient gasoline-powered engine. The electric motor generates power by several different advanced technologies including:
1. Regenerative Braking. The electric motor applies resistance to the drive train causing the wheels to slow down. In return, the energy from the wheels turns the motor, which functions as a generator, converting energy normally wasted during coasting and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.
2. Electric Motor Drive/Assist. The electric motor provides additional power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill climbing. This allows a smaller, more efficient engine to be used. In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.
3. Automatic Start/Shutoff. Automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop and restarts it when the accelerator is pressed. This prevents wasted energy from idling.
What is the Difference Between Full Hybrid Cars and Stop / Start Hybrid Cars?
Full hybrid cars use a gasoline engine as the main source of power, and an electric motor provides backup power when needed. Full hybrid cars can use the electric motor as the sole source of propulsion for low-speed, low-acceleration driving, such as in stop-and-go traffic or for backing up. This electric-only driving mode can further increases fuel efficiency.
Stop/Start hybrid cars are not true hybrid cars since the electricity from the battery is not used to propel the vehicle. However, the Stop/Start feature is an important, energy-saving building block used in hybrid cars. Stop/Start technology conserves energy by shutting off the gasoline engine when the hybrid car is at rest, such as at a traffic light, and automatically re-starting it when the driver pushes the gas pedal to go forward.
What are Fuel Cell Cars and How do They Work?
A fuel cell is essentially a big battery which runs when it has a supply of fresh hydrogen. Various types of fuel cells exist, but the one automakers are primarily focusing on for fuel cell cars is one that relies on a proton-exchange membrane, or PEM. In a PEM fuel cell, the membrane lies sandwiched between a positively charged electrode (the cathode) and a negatively charged electrode (the anode).The hydrogen is pumped from the fuel tanks to a platinum anode which catalyzes a reaction which ionizes the gas. This causes the hydrogen molecule to split into positively charged ions (hydrogen protons) and negatively charged ions (electrons). Both particles are drawn to the cathode on the other side of the membrane, but only the protons can pass through it. The electrons are forced to go around the membrane through a circuit which generates the electricity which powers the car.
Using the two different routes, the hydrogen protons and the electrons quickly reach the cathode. While hydrogen is fed to the anode, oxygen is fed to the cathode, where a catalyst creates oxygen ions. The arriving hydrogen protons and electrons bond with these oxygen ions, creating the two “waste products” of the reaction—water vapor and heat. Some of the water vapor gets recycled for use in humidification, and the rest drips out of the tailpipe as “exhaust.” These cars are pollution free since they only release water vapor and heat.
Since these cars do not operate using gasoline, they are very cheap to operate. Any car can be easily and expensively converted into a fuel cell hybrid car.
Click here to learn how to convert your car into a hydrogen powered hybrid car.
