The arrival of the hybrid vehicle to the consumer market has been heralded as the wave of the future. With increasing awareness of the pitfalls of the world’s reliance on oil and the knowledge that alternative technologies need to be phased in, more and more car companies are offering hybrids as part of their product lineups. They offer consumers two major advantages: superior fuel efficiency, and reduced environmental impact.

Why are hybrids so fuel-efficient? It is because they draw on multiple fuel technologies to power the vehicle, resulting in a dramatically lower use of gasoline. Most hybrids on the road today combine electrical power with traditional gasoline. When the electrical current is fully charged, the car draws as much power as possible from electricity, supplementing it with gasoline as needed. The end result is fuel efficiencies which are double or even triple what is seen in many gas-only cars and trucks.

This reduced usage of gasoline results in fewer emissions. Because drivers of hybrids are doing their part to help reduce emissions and protect the environment, many jurisdictions offer benefits to drivers of hybrid vehicles. You may be eligible for tax credits and certain driving privileges, such as the legal usage of carpool lanes even if you are the lone occupant of the car.

Some of the most popular hybrid vehicles on the market today include the Toyota Prius, the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Honda Insight. There are also hybrid versions of numerous popular production vehicles available, including the Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry. Luxury automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Audi, have also jumped into the fray, offering full-sized luxury sedans with hybrid technologies. You can also get hybrid SUVs, if you want to enjoy the roominess and off-road capabilities of a sports utility vehicle.

One thing you should be aware of, though, is that repair costs for hybrid vehicles can be quite high, especially if repairs to the fuel system are needed. The technologies that power these cars are complex and difficult to repair, so you should do your homework and find the vehicles that have the best reliability ratings in the class you’re interested in.

Comments

All the hybrids on the marekt use NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) batteries, which contain no heavy metals (so they're not hazardous waste, like the Pb-A batteries), and are easily recycled. Often? they'll have labels on the packs themselves listing who to contact to recycle them, and often there's a nice cash bounty reward as well (Toyota's $200). The energy could come from a wind farm or solar energy, the sun is the real clean energy of the future. -- Sofiane

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Hi,I am a Scorpio owner and i have to say that i am totally and completely satisfied with this product. This car which comes in the SUV section in the Indian market has great potential in it and has satisfied me to the core. The Scorpio has a great turning radius which outclasses the innova, safari, and other such car in this category. The body is strong and not delicate and is a much more reliable car than many others available in the Indian market today. Coming to the fuel consumption part, i have to say that it gives u a better mileage seeing the conditions of the roads today here in India. The Scorpio has a great engine and so a good pick up. The run it has on highways is also tremendous. In terms of other vehicles as far as the speed part is concerned these vehicles have a weak link, that is when they touch a speed of more than 120 Km/ph they tend to shake or vibrate a lot which is not the case here with the Scorpio. With a Scorpio when driving in a highway and in times of overtaking, you dont have to think twice to do that mannouvre as it takes on the road in a smooth and efficient way unlike the innova which is a bulky car and the driver faces difficulties in doing such mannouvres. When in times of an accident (major or minor) the Scorpio tends to have a lot of safety measures plus it has a strong body unlike innova and tavera which even with a small hit gives an impression of a huge damage to the car’s outer body as its very delicate, but for Scorpio that is not the case and i have also experienced the way the service stations act in times of servicing your car and they are really helpful and fast and they are not like the other service stations which sometimes mistreat their customers by wasting their precious time and money. The price of a Scorpio is also reasonable comparing the same with an innova or tavera as the Scorpio gives you a better performance meter reading than the others and these cars also cost a lot as compared to a Scorpio. Mahindra is following one important rule in customer satisfaction by giving them good treatment and also by leading them in the right way.To conclude this review of mine the scorpio is worth every penny you spend and gives you a smile with satisfaction. auto insurance quotes -- Candid

Well, to take your last point first hybrids are rellay nothing but a marketing gimmic. There’s nothing”wrong” with them they do reduce fuel consumption. Its jsut a ridiculously expensive way to do it when you can build cheaper cars that get jsut as good mileage with efficient gasoline engines.As for the future here’s my estimate: electric. The reasons are basically simple:>alternative fuel cars would (based on what we know) be either biofuels or hydrogen. the first is workable but there’s no way for us to produce that much biofuel without causing massive impact on the ecology worldwide. And, unless wedeelop some very innovative technology tha tisn’t in the offing, it is NOT carbon neutral though it does reduce the “carbonfootprint” considerably.Hydrogen presents technical problems ones tha twill take years to solve. Mainly this involves how to store enough hydrogen on a car to give it a decent range. also, hyddrogen is currently obtained from oil. The alternative electrolysis could becomeccost effective. But to use electricity to break down water for its hydorogen you have to have to produce the electricity first.My guess-when we reach the point of producing that much electricity without using oil or coal to do it (by solar power, for instance) and can do it cost-effectively you might as well use that electricity to power electric cars. We already know how to build them, with enough range for urban driving and short tirps and do so at reasonable cost. Going to hydrogen would jsut be an expensive complication.The real key we need is large scale cost-deffective alternative means of generating the electricity in the first place. But the technology for that ( or technologies, raher there are several) are either already working (wind, for example) or on the verge of becoming highly competitive 9such as new tidal power and solar array technologies now in development). auto insurance quotes -- Minerva

They use tolls on the highways and bridges already. Also, they would just place a energy tax on power plants, thus forcing the power companies to pass that cost onto us, raising the price of a Kwh. Big brother is already tracking us, they can locate you through the On-Star Navigation system, many criminals have been caught using it, if you miss a payment on your car they just call On Star tell them to not let your car start. The EZ-Pass and such can track your travels when you pay tolls with it. Almost all phones use a GPS nowadays, thats another means of tracking people. They have given criminals the new "smart phones" saying they won a sweepstakes and track them through the GPS on the phone. If your phone doesn’t have a GPS they can track you by your signal and what cell towers you connect to, which you can’t control.Shaddog: its called an electric meter…the meter man comes to your house and takes a reading, the company then charges you base on use. Thats how you get your electric bill. buy auto insurance online online auto insurance quotes -- Vinnie

They use tolls on the highways and bridges already. Also, they would just place a energy tax on power plants, thus forcing the power companies to pass that cost onto us, raising the price of a Kwh. Big brother is already tracking us, they can locate you through the On-Star Navigation system, many criminals have been caught using it, if you miss a payment on your car they just call On Star tell them to not let your car start. The EZ-Pass and such can track your travels when you pay tolls with it. Almost all phones use a GPS nowadays, thats another means of tracking people. They have given criminals the new "smart phones" saying they won a sweepstakes and track them through the GPS on the phone. If your phone doesn’t have a GPS they can track you by your signal and what cell towers you connect to, which you can’t control.Shaddog: its called an electric meter…the meter man comes to your house and takes a reading, the company then charges you base on use. Thats how you get your electric bill. cheap auto insurance car insurance quotes -- Taimi