Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Hybrid cars were invented by Porsche in 1900 and were subsequently dropped in favor of gasoline-only
vehicles. Today's hybrid cars were first developed by the Japanese companies Honda and Toyota. Hybrid
vehicles contain smaller gasoline engines, which are supplemented as needed by electric motors. When you ap-
ply the brake in a hybrid car, the energy from braking is captured and the car's kinetic energy is converted into
electrical energy that charges the battery. If the battery is low, the electric motor will also convert energy from
the gasoline engine to charge the batteries.
Honda's technology uses an electric motor to provide assistance to a constantly running gasoline engine as
needed, commonly when the car is accelerating or climbing hills. Toyota's technology allows the car to run
completely on the battery at low speeds and to assist the gasoline engine during accelerations and hill climbing.
The Honda Civic gets better gas mileage on the highway than surface streets, while the Toyota Prius gets better
gas mileage driving city streets than the highway. Both technologies produce about 65 percent less CO
2
.
In 2010, Toyota had a limited number of plug-in Prius vehicles that were being used as test cars, and the com-
pany planned to release consumer versions soon thereafter. The plug-in hybrid has a larger battery and allows
the owner to plug the car into a 110-volt outlet at home, work, or another location to completely charge the bat-
tery. The plug-in hybrid will allow the owner to drive up to 13 miles on a charge at a maximum speed of 62
mph.
Several companies and individuals have modified Prius cars to get 100 mpg. These changes have usually in-
volved converting the car to be a plug-in vehicle and adding lithium-ion batteries. Conversion kits are avail-
able, and specialists can be found to install the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries. However, the cost for such a
