The rising prices of petroleum products globally has raised many concerns with car owners, they are finding it more expensive to run their cars on the traditional fuel. The answer to this problem is seen in hybrid cars; this will not only conserve fuel but at the same time control carbon emission.
Hybrid cars are gaining popularity not only with drivers but manufacturers also are investing huge amounts of money in the development of such technology. The plus point in hybrids cars is that these vehicles can run both on the conventional gasoline and also on electricity via an electric motor and batteries. These two systems when used together can reduce the use of gasoline and can even improve driving mileage to more than 60 miles per gallon of gas.
These cars have inbuilt systems to allow the charging of batteries inside the vehicle, this totally eliminates the charging through electric outlet at home or specialized charging stations required to charge such vehicles. Such facilities provided in hybrid cars have made them quite popular.
The biggest drawback of hybrid cars is its high price, which has proved to be big deterrent because only few can afford such cars. Governments have given some incentives like free parking, free entry to car pool lanes and many other rebates. Some of the incentives are reduced fee at the toll gates. It is believed that such incentives will make hybrid vehicles more affordable and therefore luring more potential buyers.
Apart from the benefits mentioned above, there are quite few disadvantages also; hybrid cars have very high repairing costs. These costs are mostly associated with the integration of the charging system, electric motor and the internal combustion engine.
The complex integration system is bound to make things go wrong, in such cases it has been noticed that the repairs and the associated parts are very costly.
In addition, the rechargeable batteries require periodic replacement as is the case with any other rechargeable battery. Normally such a situation develops many years after the purchase and will cost you thousands of dollars, depending upon the manufacturer. Some hybrid cars also have poor fuel efficiency and the power of the vehicle is less as compared to the traditional automobiles.
Another negative point is the extra weight of these cars due to the addition of batteries required for the electric motor. The batteries do add a substantial weight thus weighting down the chassis.
On some terrains and climates, hybrid cars can only operate on gasoline power than on electric motors. The increased weight of the cars also lower the fuel efficiency and you would have to spend more on gasoline.
Manufacturers are working hard to overcome such challenges to make these cars more acceptable and fuel efficient by using lighter components and more efficient rechargeable batteries so that the running and the maintenance cost is reduced. Once such drawbacks are removed, people will get really attracted towards hybrid cars as ultimately these cars are the only solution to the rising prices of oil.