Can someone explain hybrid cars to me, please?

[mousme]

I am Posty McPostalot today!

Here's the deal. I don't understand the concept of hybrid cars, except in the most minimal of ways (they use both electricity and fuel to run: yay!).

So... can someone explain this to me? Or point me to a good web page/resource for them?

Sometime in the not-so-near future, when I move far away from my job, I will likely look into getting one, but only if it makes sense to do so. If I end up spending just as much on gas as I would with a normal car, then it would defeat the purpose of getting a hybrid. Also, maintenance and overall reliabilty/functionality will be a major consideration. If my car spends half the year in the shop, that too will defeat the purpose.

Help?

Comments

[conscioussoul.livejournal.com]

Note that this company in ottawa should offer very shortly a program to refit the toyota prius and convert it to a full plug-in hybrid.
http://www.hymotion.com/faq.htm

Plug in hybrids are great because you can charge the battery directly from your garqage electricity (from a regular plug) so you ONLY use the gas on long run or when your enginre reaches more than 65km/hour.

As long as you plug it every night and use it in the city only, you would actually NOT consume ANY gas.

[ladyiolanthe.livejournal.com]

The one thing with plug-ins is that the electricity you use to charge the batteries from your garage has to come from somewhere. It comes from a power plant... What does the power plant use to produce energy? A lot of them use fossil fuels like coal or diesel. I have yet to see a comparison between how much fossil fuel you'd burn with a gas-powered car and how much greenhouse gas you indirectly create by using electricity produced by the power plant that runs on fossil fuels. It probably is less, but I just don't know.

I'd sure like to see such a comparison before buying a plug-in electric car.

[conscioussoul.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is definitely a concern and that is why electric cars will not solve the problem on the energy consumption level.
It is an important step because there are several clean ways to produce electricity, while there are no clean way to produce and consume gas.

However, as far as mouseme is concerned, remember we are in Quebec and here, all of our electricity comes from Hydro plants from the Bay James, so 100% of our electricity is clean.