Hybrids how do they work

A plug-in hybrid comes with a built-in socket for charging as well as the appropriate cable. Charging a plug-in hybrid takes hours , depending on the speed of the charging point.

For this reason, many plug-in hybrid car owners choose to charge their hybrid car at home overnight. If this is the case, you can always use a public charging station. You can use a charging point map in order to find those closest to your location. Just like conventional cars, hybrid cars do emit greenhouse gases due to the presence of the petrol or diesel engine.

Emissions produced by petrol and diesel engines include carbon dioxide CO2 and carbon monoxide CO. In contrast, electric cars are zero-emission vehicles but it should be pointed out that emissions are produced in the process of generating the electricity.

The key difference is that hybrid cars are much more fuel efficient than conventional cars, requiring less fuel to cover the same distance. By operating the vehicle at lower speeds, the electric motor increases fuel efficiency which means that a hybrid car produces fewer pollutants over the course of its lifetime. Power Products. Subscribe here.

Hybrid cars have been on our roads since the late s, yet they remain something of a mystery to many drivers. As the hybrid car becomes more common, interest is undoubtedly growing. One of the most common questions on the minds of today's drivers is how a hybrid car works.

From the workings of the hybrid engine to the process of charging a hybrid car, we aim to clear any doubts you might have about the hybrid car. So how does a hybrid car work? Plug-in hybrids are the most expensive, while mild hybrids cost only marginally more than a standard petrol or diesel alternative.

This difference in price has lessened over time. There is an upside though. The inclusion of electric motors can work to provide some pretty exciting acceleration. The instant power delivery of electricity is far more exciting than what you get with a normal petrol engine.

Some sports car manufacturers have taken advantage of this to get truly lightning performance out of their latest models. Read on to find out more about hybrid cars, with details on how the technology works, how to get the best performance out of them, and some great hybrid car deals available right now on BuyaCar. Most hybrids can drive at low speeds for a short distance using motor power alone.

When more speed is needed, or the battery runs low, the petrol or diesel engine is automatically started up, generally undetected. The engine is usually used to keep the car at a steady speed, when it runs most efficiently. It may also charge the battery at the same time. The car's software will work out when this can be done without using much - or any - extra fuel. There are a huge number of cars on sale that incorporate some kind of hybrid technology, whether that's in the form of a mild hybrid, self-charging hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

So the good news is there's plenty of choice if you're looking to clamp down on your carbon footprint. The hybrid car market has become so comprehensive and varied that it's likely you'll be able to find a hybrid version of your favourite car, or at least a car that's going to perfectly suit your needs. The more frustrating and congested your drives are, the more likely a hybrid is likely to save you money. Most hybrids also have petrol engines, which should mean that they avoid any future diesel taxes that are introduced in an attempt to improve air quality.

Some manufacturers prefer diesel, though, for its superior pulling power and improved efficiency over longer distances, such as Mercedes with the GLC de which is a plug-in diesel hybrid. Because of the way that official tests are conducted, plug-in hybrid cars are ranked as extremely efficient, which often places them in the very lowest company car tax band - offering considerable savings for business users.

They can be frugal on fuel in the real world too. If you usually drive less than 15 miles a day - and can charge up your car at either end - then your plug-in hybrid is likely to use little or no fuel. But the longer your drive, the closer your fuel economy will be to a non-hybrid car.

When the battery is out of power, its engine is less efficient than the diesel option. Reducing disturbances around objects that stick out from the car or eliminating them altogether can also help to improve the aerodynamics.

For example, covers over the wheel housings smooth the airflow and reduce drag. And sometimes, mirrors are replaced with small cameras. All of the hybrid cars on the market utilize some or all of these efficiency tricks. We will be looking closely at the technology of the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. The Honda Insight left and Toyota Prius. Although both of these cars are modified parallel hybrids, they are actually quite different in character.

The Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius both have a gasoline engine, an electric motor and batteries, but that is where the similarities end. Let's start with the Insight. The Honda Insight , which was introduced in early in the United States, is designed to get the best possible mileage. The Insight is no longer part of Honda's line, but it's still a good example of how a hybrid car can work. Honda used every trick in the book to make the car as efficient as it can be.

The Insight is a small, lightweight two-seater with a tiny, high-efficiency gas engine. The Insight has the best EPA mileage ratings of any hybrid car on the market. The Honda Insight is a simplified parallel hybrid. It has an electric motor coupled to the engine at the spot where the flywheel usually goes. Honda calls this system "Integrated Motor Assist.

However, the motor cannot power the car by itself; the gas engine must be running for the car to move. To get the best mileage possible, Honda used all of the efficiency tricks discussed previously.

But the Insight relies mainly on three areas:. Insight engine With the electric motor running, the Insight produces 73 horsepower at 5, rpm. If you compare that to the engine horsepower alone, it looks like the electric motor only adds 6 horsepower. But the real effectiveness of the electric motor occurs at lower engine speeds.

The electric motor on the Insight is rated at 10 kilowatts about 13 horsepower at 3, rpm. It's the peak torque numbers that really tell the story. Without the electric motor, the Insight makes its peak torque of 66 pound-feet at 4, rpm.

With the electric motor, it makes 79 pound-feet at 1, rpm. So the motor adds a lot of torque to the low end of the speed range, where the engine is weaker. This is a nice compromise that allows Honda to give a very small engine the feel of a much larger one. The Insight is actually not very different from a conventional car once you get behind the wheel.

When you accelerate, the gas engine does most of the work. If you accelerate quickly, the electric motor kicks in to provide a little extra power. When you are cruising along the freeway, the gas engine is doing all of the work. When you slow down by hitting the brakes or letting off the gas, the electric motor kicks in to generate a little electricity to charge the batteries.

You never have to plug the Insight into an electrical outlet; the motor generates all of the power needed to charge the battery. One interesting thing to note is that in the Insight, the manual transmission is separated from the engine and motor by the clutch. This means that if you are the type of driver who likes to put the clutch in or put the car in neutral when you slow down to a stop, you are not going to get any regenerative braking.

In order to recover energy when you slow down, the car has to be in gear. Now let's take a look at the technology of the Toyota Prius. The Prius works in a very different way from the Insight. The Toyota Prius , which came out in Japan at the end of , is designed to reduce emissions in urban areas.

To accomplish this, Toyota has designed a parallel hybrid powertrain , called the Toyota Hybrid System THS , that adds some of the benefits of a series hybrid. It is a four-door sedan that seats five, and the powertrain is capable of accelerating the vehicle to speeds up to 15 mph 24 kph on electric power alone. This contributes to the better city mileage than highway mileage. Unlike Honda, Toyota has focused primarily on the powertrain to achieve its emissions and mileage goals.

The Prius weighs 2, pounds 1, kg and has as much interior space and trunk space as a Toyota Corolla. Here's a layout of all the pieces:. Its engine only runs at an efficient speed and load - In order to reduce emissions, the Prius can accelerate to a speed of about 15 mph 24 kph before switching on the gasoline engine. The engine only starts once the vehicle has passed a certain speed. And once the engine starts, it operates in a narrow speed band.

It uses a unique power split device - Gasoline engines can be tuned to run most efficiently in certain speed and load ranges. The power split device on the Prius, which we'll talk about in a minute, allows the engine to stay in its most efficient load and speed range most of the time.

Toyota designed the 1. Keeping the maximum speed of the engine low allows for the use of lighter components that improve efficiency. The electric motor on the Prius is rated at 67 horsepower from 1, to 1, rpm. It produces pound-feet of torque from 0 to 1, rpm, which is more than enough to get the car going without the aid of the gasoline engine. The power split device is the heart of the Toyota Prius. This is a clever gearbox that hooks the gasoline engine, generator and electric motor together.

It allows the car to operate like a parallel hybrid -- the electric motor can power the car by itself, the gas engine can power the car by itself or they can power the car together. The power split device also allows the car to operate like a series hybrid -- the gasoline engine can operate independently of the vehicle speed, charging the batteries or providing power to the wheels as needed.

It also acts as a continuously variable transmission CVT , eliminating the need for a manual or automatic transmission. Finally, because the power split device allows the generator to start the engine, the car does not need a starter. The power split device is a planetary gear set below.

The electric motor is connected to the ring gear of the gear set. It is also directly connected to the differential , which drives the wheels. So, whatever speed the electric motor and ring gear spin at determines the speed of the car. The generator is connected to the sun gear of the gear set, and the engine is connected to the planet carrier. The speed of the ring gear depends on all three components, so they all have to work together at all times to control the output speed.

When you accelerate, initially the electric motor and batteries provide all of the power. The ring gear of the power split device is connected to the electric motor, so it starts to spin with the motor. The planet carrier, which is connected to the engine, is stationary because the engine is not running. Since the ring gear is spinning, the planets have to spin, which causes the sun gear and generator to spin. As the car accelerates, the generator spins at whatever speed it needs to in order for the engine to remain off.

You can see all of this below:. Once you reach about 40 mph 64 kph , the gasoline engine will turn on. The generator suddenly changes speed, causing the planet carrier to turn and start the engine. Once the engine is running, it settles into a constant speed while the generator varies its speed to match the output speed with the electric motor. If you are really accelerating hard, the motor will draw extra power from the batteries.

Once you are up to freeway speed, the car will move under a combination of gas and electric power, with all of the electricity coming from the generator. Like the Insight, the Prius never needs to be recharged; the onboard generator automatically maintains the proper level of charge in the batteries. Both the Honda and the Toyota have long warranties on their hybrid components. The motors and batteries in these cars typically don't require any maintenance over the life of the vehicle however, if you do have to replace the batteries after the warranty expires, it will likely cost you several thousand dollars.

The engine doesn't require any more maintenance than the one in any other car, and because both hybrids have regenerative braking, the brake pads may even last a little longer than those in most cars. Achieving hybrid power is certainly more complex than using straight gasoline power or straight electric power.

In the next section, we'll examine why hybrid technology is so desirable, both for consumers and for car makers. You might wonder why anyone would build such a complicated machine when most people are perfectly happy with their gasoline-powered cars. The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions and to improve mileage. These goals are actually tightly interwoven. Let's take the example of the California emissions standards, which dictate how much of each type of pollution a car is allowed to emit in California.

For example, the low emissions vehicle LEV standard allows 3.