Hybrid vs. Gas Powered Cars
Currently, global warming and a shrinking natural resource base are two of the greatest headaches for governments and regulators alike the world over. The price of gas in the U.S., for instance, almost doubled over the last decade, from $1.86 in 2004 to $3.62 on average in the first half of 2014; and given that more than half of the country's oil consumption is taken up by motor vehicles, one question looms -- what will the situation on our roads be like when our oil reserves can no longer sustain our consumption needs? Then there is the even greater problem of greenhouse emissions and global warming. The transport sector accounts for approximately 17%-18% of total CO2 emission globally, and automakers have been under intense pressure to roll out emission-free automobiles, and thereby reduce the damage resulting from the Greenhouse effect. More and more regulators are putting in place incentives in the form of tax credits to lure automakers into developing energy-efficient, emission-free vehicles. Hybridization is seen by many as the answer to the energy and emission problems of the 21st century and experts predict that by 2015, more than 10% of vehicles on American roads will be hybrid models. Well, most hybrid users refer to such models as 'the smart way to drive'; but is this really so? Those opposed to hybridization have argued that the high costs of such models lock out a majority of middle-income car buyers, and that hybridization may, therefore, not be a sustainable control mechanism in the long-term. This text compares the pros and cons of both gasoline-fueled and hybrid models and builds a case for the latter, demonstrating that they are not only more energy-efficient, but also more beneficial to the individual user in terms of long-term cost-savings. Before embarking on the main discussion, however, it would be prudent to define a number of terms that I will be making use of:
Gas-powered automobile: an automobile whose engine runs purely on either diesel or petrol (the traditional fuels)
Alternative fuel automobile: an automobile whose engine runs on fuel other than diesel or petrol (Pavan, 2014). They include solar-powered cars, electric cars, and hybrid electric models. Vehicle manufacturers have been under pressure to develop alternative fuel brands owing to the ever-rising prices of oil.
Hybrid vehicle: a vehicle that derives its motive power from a combination of two or more power sources (Pavan, 2014). The gasoline-electric hybrid model, for instance, is driven by a series of electric batteries in addition to gasoline (Pavan, 2014). The electric batteries are responsible for powering the vehicle's internal combustion engines, which basically implies that the gasoline requirements are very minimal (Pavan, 2014).
Hybrid vs. Gas-Powered Vehicles
For purposes of this text, hybrid cars and traditional gas-powered cars will be compared on the basis of three fundamental aspects -- environmental impact, passenger safety, and life cycle cost.
i) Environmental Impact
Emissions and Energy-Saving
Hybrid vehicles have significantly lower levels of CO2 and non-CO2 emissions compared to their traditional equivalents (Pavan, 2014; Reddy & Tharun, 2013). This is because the motive power needed to power the engine is derived partly from the electric batteries, and only a very small amount is derived from the combustion of gasoline (Markel & Simpson, 2006). This essentially implies that less fuel is used for propulsion, and consequently, less fuel is required. In the conventional models, engine-propulsion is derived primarily from gasoline, which ordinarily implies higher levels of fuel consumption. According to Rose (n.d.), hybrid engines have a combined gas mileage of 30 miles per gallon, compared to their standard equivalent's 21 miles per gallon. Besides their power-sharing capability, there are three additional features of hybrid technology that explain these low levels of fuel-consumption.
First, since the hybrid vehicle relies on both the electric motor and the engine for its peak power requirements, it is able to work effectively with a smaller engine designed for average, as opposed to peak power usage; and as Pavan (2014) points out, the smaller the engine, the lower the rates of internal energy losses.
Secondly, the electric batteries used have relatively high energy-storage capacities, essentially allowing...
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