2008 Woodie Awards
Hybrid Vehicles The Way To Go
Rachel Meyer
Issue date: 9/9/05 Section: Arts & Features
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Have you seen those gas prices? An unprecedented $3.77 will buy you one - yes, just one - gallon of premium gasoline in Hamilton. Unbelievably enough, your money will get you less far in New York City, where the cost for a gallon of regular gas on East 69th Street reached a whopping $3.99 last weekend. Yet, after a period of sober reflection when you realize that prices do not appear to be coming down anytime soon, you might think, "What can be done about this?"
You might contemplate hiding your car keys and resorting to alternate means of transportation. Or you might consider getting yourself a hybrid - the seemingly new trend in automotive technology. Honda has essentially led the way for the new hybrid initiative, releasing its Insight in 1999. On the coattails of Honda are fellow Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and her higher-end sibling, Lexus. Even Ford, the maker of such gas-guzzling and un-green vehicles as the F-150 and the Excursion, has jumped aboard the hybrid bandwagon and General Motors is not too far behind.
According to an April 2005 story featured on CBS News, the sale of electric and alternative-powered vehicles grew by 960 percent between 2000 and 2004. While the number of hybrid cars being sold in the U.S. is still relatively insignificant, the increase in sales is note-worthy because it demonstrates the public's heightened awareness of more fuel-efficient alternatives. Whether the increase in sales can be attributed to personal economic anxieties, political and ideological sentiments or environmental concerns is undetermined.
What is known, however, is that hybrid technology has been getting a lot of attention lately. So what is this hybrid technology and how does it work? A hybrid vehicle takes the advantageous elements of electric power and gasoline power and fuses them together to achieve a car or SUV (as is becoming more and more the case) with higher fuel-economy and lower emissions. Hybrids are powered by two motors, one electric, the other a gasoline engine, which work in tandem. In the case of the Honda hybrids, the electric power only aids the gasoline power so that the car is never riding solely on its electric power. Conversely, Toyota's hybrid technology makes it possible for the car to travel at low speeds running entirely on electric power. When riding up a hill or passing a car on the highway, both motors work together to generate the power needed to perform these tasks.
You might contemplate hiding your car keys and resorting to alternate means of transportation. Or you might consider getting yourself a hybrid - the seemingly new trend in automotive technology. Honda has essentially led the way for the new hybrid initiative, releasing its Insight in 1999. On the coattails of Honda are fellow Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and her higher-end sibling, Lexus. Even Ford, the maker of such gas-guzzling and un-green vehicles as the F-150 and the Excursion, has jumped aboard the hybrid bandwagon and General Motors is not too far behind.
According to an April 2005 story featured on CBS News, the sale of electric and alternative-powered vehicles grew by 960 percent between 2000 and 2004. While the number of hybrid cars being sold in the U.S. is still relatively insignificant, the increase in sales is note-worthy because it demonstrates the public's heightened awareness of more fuel-efficient alternatives. Whether the increase in sales can be attributed to personal economic anxieties, political and ideological sentiments or environmental concerns is undetermined.
What is known, however, is that hybrid technology has been getting a lot of attention lately. So what is this hybrid technology and how does it work? A hybrid vehicle takes the advantageous elements of electric power and gasoline power and fuses them together to achieve a car or SUV (as is becoming more and more the case) with higher fuel-economy and lower emissions. Hybrids are powered by two motors, one electric, the other a gasoline engine, which work in tandem. In the case of the Honda hybrids, the electric power only aids the gasoline power so that the car is never riding solely on its electric power. Conversely, Toyota's hybrid technology makes it possible for the car to travel at low speeds running entirely on electric power. When riding up a hill or passing a car on the highway, both motors work together to generate the power needed to perform these tasks.