A hybrid engine. The hybrid electric vehicle relies on a combination of a fossil fuel-fired international combustion engine and a battery-driven electric motor to run. There are three different hybrid technologies--each with its own balance between the fossil fuel engine and the electric motor--and there are diesel- and gasoline-burning hybrid cars. However, all hybrids use the basic pairing of a fuel-burning engine and a battery-powered motor.
Hybrid Types
- The parallel hybrid, sometimes called the Petroleum Fuel Engine Assistance Hybrid, works by using the electric motor when idling and neighborhood driving at speeds of up to about 20 or 25 mph. At that point, the gasoline engine steps in for extra power.
The Electrical Engine Assistance version uses its internal combustion engine as the norm, adding the electric motor for extra power. In simple terms, it's the reverse of the parallel hybrid.
Finally, the plug-in electric hybrid has an internal combustion engine merely as a backup. The car is essentially an all-electric vehicle with a small gasoline engine for charging the battery or getting to a charging station in a pinch.
Hybrid Batteries
A hybrid lithium ion battery. Hybrids are either partially or mostly reliant on their batteries and electric motors for motive power. This means the batteries must be of a design that can provide a large discharge and possess great stamina. To meet these needs, most hybrid batteries are of the expensive lithium ion or nickel-metal hydride design. In the case of lithium ion batteries, they have a great deal in common with the batteries used in cell phones and laptop computers but are made with more expensive materials to achieve a longer lifespan.
Charging the Battery
- Except in the case of the plug-in hybrid, all versions of this technology charge the battery from two sources: power from the internal combustion engine, and regenerative breaking. A feature on all hybrids is a mechanism that captures kinetic energy from using the brakes and converts it into electricity. Plug-in hybrids are built to be plugged into the power grid and charged that way. There are also aftermarket kits that can adapt regular hybrid types into plug-ins.
