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Hybrids Explained
With all the buzz circulating around Hybrid cars, you may be left with some questions. Let’s dig into these Hybrid vehicles a little more and hopefully answer some questions!
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Electric Vehicles (EV) use a battery instead of a gas tank and use an electric motor instead of your typical combustion engine. These types of vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions.
Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) are a combination of a gas engine and electric. They have a battery, electric motor as well as a gas tank. So they use both fuel and electricity to get around. PHEVs produce tailpipe emissions only when the gasoline engine is being used.
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All Hybrids are in a sense self-charging, they use regeneration to recharge the battery. This is how EVs manage to work without the need for a plug-in. On the plug-in ones, this regeneration still occurs it just replenishes what you are using to a point.
EV Hybrids driving range is generally less than what it would normally take for a gasoline vehicle to need a fuel up, but normally still enough to satisfy the average persons daily driving needs. Instead of MPG for these vehicles, you will see it called MPGe meaning miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent.
PHEV Hybrids are typically pretty comparable to gasoline vehicles as far as driving range goes. You can view a chart HERE that gives you the driving range and charge times of EVs and PHEVs. This site also gives great tips and lets you compare cars side by side.
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Charging your Hybrid. If you drive a lot during the day, you may need to find charging stations while away from home. But oftentimes you may be able to just charge while at home. These vehicles can be charged on a standard 120-volt outlet but you can upgrade to a 240-volt to charge more quickly. Find a charging station HERE!
If your goal is to lessen your carbon footprint, a PHEV Hybrid would be the best option but you need to consider your driving habits as well. If you are a local commuter and can drive in the electric motor mode most of the time, this would be a great way for you to reduce your emissions.
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