Types & Systems

Plug-In Hybrids - Overview

How would you like to run your car for the equivalent of less than one dollar per gallon, with much lower emissions? Impossible, right?

How Hybrids Work

A step-by-step breakdown of what happens when you sit behind the wheel of a hybrid car.

Hybrid Terms

Are all hybrids created equal? Get a grasp on the definitions: full hybrid, mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid, parallel hybrid and serial hybrid...

With the Return of $4 Gas, GM Again Looks to Mild Hybrids

Can GM's new wave of eAssist mild hybrids triumph where their predecessors failed?

Hybrid Car Affordability Leaps Forward with P2 Technology

Mostly escaping notice, a new crop of 2011 hybrids—including the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and the Infiniti M35 Hybrid—are using a second clutch to achieve the critical goal of separating operation of the gas engine and electric motor. These new parallel two-clutch systems—hence the name P2—could provide 95 percent of the fuel efficiency benefits of an expensive two-motor system, like the one in the Toyota Prius, but at cost reductions of one-third or more.

Potential of Diesel-Hybrids Is Limited by High Cost

Peugeot announced this week that it sold out the first run of its 3008 Hybrid4 Limited Edition diesel-hybrid in just nine days. Is this a sign that hybrids using an efficient diesel engine, instead of a gas engine, are ready for prime time? Not at all. The problem is that diesel-hybrids move the wrong direction down the hybrid cost curve.

Ford Kicks Off U.S. No-Idle Revolution

Ford announced this week that it plans to introduce its stop-start technology—which it calls Auto Start-Stop and others call stop-start or micro-hybrid—to its global vehicle line beginning with next year's models. Use whatever name you like for the technology, but it means the same thing: the beginning of the end of vehicle's wastefully idling—burning fuel and spewing emissions at a traffic light or while waiting in a line. The stop-start system automatically shuts down the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop; the engine automatically restarts when the driver releases the brake pedal.

Reconsidering the Toyota Prius in an Electric Car World

Just as the new electric vehicles are hitting the roads, the benefits of the Toyota Prius conventional hybrid are being reexamined. Some are arguing that the economic and environmental merits of the Prius are of equal or greater value than the Volt and LEAF.

Demand For Increased Fuel Economy Drives Eaton to Develop New Automotive Technology

As the global focus on improving fuel economy reaches a new level, the writing on the wall has become clear to automakers and those who supply them. Consumers are demanding more efficient and, in many cases, smaller vehicles and governments worldwide are putting new emphasis on reducing emissions… and Eaton Corporation, being one of the largest, oldest and most diverse automotive suppliers in the world, has noticed the shift. At an event last week outside of Detroit, Michigan, Eaton took the time showcase just how much the rapidly changing landscape of the automotive industry is shaping their current and future direction.

Nein, Says Volkswagen To Diesel-Electric Hybrids

For years, Volkswagen has showcased a number of diesel-hybrid concept vehicles. That might give you the impression that VW dealers will soon have them in their showrooms. Apparently, that’s not going to happen. VW spokesperson that recently told Great Britain’s Autocar that “diesel hybrids still don’t make good business sense.” The spokesperson continued by saying, “The higher cost of clean diesel technology would make them even more expensive than petrol-electric cars. The markets where hybrids are most popular are also the ones where diesels are least popular.”

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