Toyota Prius Hybrid
The 2010 Toyota Prius is one of the best hybrid automobiles I’ve ever had the opportunity to own. I bought this car in the summer of 2009 for $21,000. I traded in my 2002 Toyota Camry to get better fuel efficiency.
This hybrid gets around 50 miles per gallon, which has saved me tremendous amounts of gasoline, and money. The reason I selected the Hybrid Prius over other Hybrids was because of the price. Other Hybrid vehicles on the market were consistently more expensive than the Prius. Paying $10,000 more for a vehicle just because it’s a hybrid didn’t make sense to me. The extra money would have eaten up my savings gained by better fuel efficiency.
The 2010 Prius Hybrid has better features than its predecessors. The 2010 model has a bigger engine, going from a 1.5 liter engine to 1.8 liter engine. Thus the car’s horsepower increased from 110 to 160, which increased the car’s 0-60 speed by a full second. I test drove a 2009 vs. a 2010 model and you could feel the acceleration difference.
Also the 2010 Prius Hybrid model was bigger than the 2009 model, four inches longer and 1 inch wider. That was important because I felt cramped in the 2009 model, and I’m only 5’ 3’. My husband at 5’ 11” felt there was definitely more leg room in the 2010 model.
From talking to the Toyota dealer, he stated that the car can get tremendous gas mileage, due to the hybrid engine, as well as keeping the vehicle as light and aerodynamic as possible. Also for my 2010 Prius Hybrid, I got features that non Hybrid car drivers enjoy. The 2010 Prius Hybrid comes with a moon roof and heated seats. The car comes with a solar panel, which helps run the car ventilation system!
The best feature of the car is that it comes with three driving modes, power EV, and economy. Power improves the car’s response time, economy reduces the throttle to save gas, and EV can trigger the car to run at low speeds (such as school zones) without using any gasoline! It is such a pleasure to drive a car that is better for the environment, while I don’t have to sacrifice features on standard cars.
The Hybrid Prius was the best decision I ever made. Hopefully within the next few years, more people will buy hybrids as well.
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Types Of Hybrid Automobiles
There are several different types of hybrid automobiles, so people have a good amount of choices available to them when they make their way to the dealership. This may be good or bad for consumers. Some car buyers were already blown away by all of the colors and accessories available to them. Now, they have to deal with this fact: There are many different types of hybrid cars. In any case, a person should choose the hybrid car that is suitable to their needs. The different types of hybrid cars are listed below.
The full hybrid
This hybrid car is awesome. If your hybrid car can propel forward when it’s already going at low speeds, you might own a full hybrid. But it must be able to do this while using no gasoline whatsoever.
The parallel hybrid car
This hybrid car has a fuel tank that gives gasoline to the engine. During this time, batteries give power to a motor that is electric. The two motors give off energy that works to propel the car forward.
The series hybrid car
In a series hybrid car, a generator is turned on by a fuel engine. And the generator does one of two things. It can either work as a battery charger for the motor or charge batteries. In turn, these batteries work to give energy to the electric motor that propels the transmission. This means that this type of hybrid car never needs to use the fuel engine to get power, at least not directly.
Today, all hybrid cars are parallel hybrid cars. There are some concept cars that might be called series hybrid cars, but a lot of times the car manufacturers do not want to call their cars series hybrid cars. So they don’t call them that, and the public is left to guess what new types of cars are coming out next. Finally, there is the plug-in hybrid car, and that’s the talk of every savvy automotive consumer. People were just starting to get that you never have to plug in a hybrid car in, but now these cars are being created supposedly with other motives than to just plain confuse people.
When thinking about what manufacturers make each type of hybrid car, the Lexus, Ford, and Toyota hybrids can be called fueled hybrids. However, the Honda and Saturn hybrid cars cannot be called full hybrids.
These different types of hybrid cars were made to give people more options and more ideas. And the options definitely don’t disappoint anyone.
The type of hybrid car chosen should align with a consumer’s driving and economic needs. For instance, some of the hybrid models may be more affordable than others. And some people may not require that their car have a lot of advanced features. However, it cant hurt to have those features available.
People often change their minds when it comes to cars. And where a hybrid car is concern, things aren’t any different. So, when a person is ready to change their mind about what type of hybrid car they’d like, the automotive industry is ready and waiting.
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History Of Hybrid Automobiles
Just where did hybrid automobiles get its start? Well, read on to find out. Hybrid cars are very popular for today’s car buyers, and there are many reasons why. But before you even think about choosing to buy a hybrid car, you might want to know a little bit about the history of a hybrid car first.
Surprisingly, hybrid cars were around even before gas-powered cars. Back in about the year 1665, a Jesuit priest by the name of Ferdinand Verbeist began plans for a certain type of vehicle. That vehicle would be very simple, nothing complex, or intricate. Simple was all he wanted. So Ferdinand planned out a car that would have four wheels and would run only on steam. It took about fifteen years of work for Ferdinand to go through with his plan. He labored to perfect his dream car. But no one knows if he ever finished because there is no evidence that his concept existed.
Then in 1769, a man by the name of Nicholas Cugnot developed a carriage that could be powered solely by steam. This carriage did in fact work, and it could go at six miles per hour. This project was great, but it was difficult to get the amount of steam needed that would allow the car to go any distance that was by any means significant.
A break thru in hybrid cars finally came when Robert Anderson developed an electric powered car in 1839. It was the first among its kind. The car was built in Scotland.
This electric car was a highly applauded innovation of its time. However, the only problem was that it was very difficult to recharge the car’s battery. Some pioneers came behind Anderson, but they too had a hard time getting the battery to recharge easily.
Finally in the year 1898 Porsche came out with an electric and fuel combustion engine that was the first of its time. The car was called the Lohner Electric Chaise, and it could go up to 40 miles just using batteries.
Soon pioneers combined both a gas and a battery powered engine to power what would become today’s hybrid car. And in 1999, Honda made a leap into the US market. It came out with the Insight. This was a lightweight two-door hybrid. Since then, hybrid cars have just been evolving and improving into what you see on the markets today. Hybrid cars aren’t just for people who are complex and want to combine battery and fuel power to get them where they need to go. Hybrid automobiles started out simple, and they are still simple today.
Now hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular as people understand them more. Hybrid cars in the 21st century saw a boom in sales when the Toyota Prius came out on the market. It was the first hybrid with four doors that was marketed in America.
Then, the Ford’s Escape hybrid became the very first SUV hybrid ever made. So there, you have it, the history of the hybrid, today’s modern car.
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