Hybrid Vehicles: The Future Of Green Technology

Hybrid Vehicles:  The Future Of Green Technology

Introduction:

A hybrid car is a combination of the two. A hybrid vehicle contains parts of both fuel and electric vehicles in an attempt to get the best of both worlds.

The best way to understand the advantages of a hybrid vehicle is to think about a car traveling down a highway at the posted speed on level ground. In this case, the engine doing three things: It is overcoming rolling resistance in the drive train.

It is overcoming air resistance.

It is powering accessories like the alternator, the power steering pump and the air conditioner

Mopeds electric bicycles, and even electric kick scooters are a simple form of a hybrid as power is delivered both via an internal combustion engine or electric motor.. Early prototypes of motorcycles in the 19th century used the same principles.

Working Principle:

Hybrid-Electric vehicles(HEVs) combine the benefits of fuel engines and electric motors and can be configured to obtain different objectives, such as improved fuel economy,increased power,or additional auxiliary power for electronic devices and power tools.

Advanced technologies used by Hybrid include

Regenerative Braking:

The electric motor applies resistance to the drive train causing the wheels to slow down.In return,the energy from the wheels turns the motor,which functions as a generator, converting energy normally wasted during coasting and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.

Electric Motor Drive:

The eletric motor provide addtional power to assist the engine in acclerating,passing,or hill climbing. the allows a smaller,more efficient engine to be used.In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.

Automatic Start/Stop:

Automatically stop engine when the vehicles comes to a stop and restart it when the accelerator is pressed.this prevents wasted energy from idling.

Internal combustion engines produce apprecible emissions and also less efficient at part load where electric drive have zero emission but in very little range.

If combine both and the result is a hybrid vehicle.

Types of Hybrid systems:

Series system

In which engine driven generator is employed to recharge the batteries while electric motor drive the car. By this way the range of car is extended.

This system involves significant mechanical-electrical-mechanical conversion losses and is thus very inefficient.

Advantages:

1)The engine is never required to idle thus reducing exhaust emission.

2)-There is no need of gear box.

3) The engine drive generator runs at optimum performance.

Disadvantages:

The engine works hard to maintain battery charge as the system is not running inl 1) parallel.

2) It required large and heavier battery back than in parallel.

Hybrid Vehicles:  The Future Of Green Technology

Parallel System

In this system engine and electric motor are both directly connected to the final drive

Hybrid Vehicles:  The Future Of Green Technology

In above figure, it is necessary to use gear box to synchronize the engine and the motor. Thus it increases car range and increase the power output.The recharging of battery had to be done at home when the vehicle is not in use.

Advantages:

Both engine and motor supply power simultaneously.

Vehicle do not require separate generator for recharging of batteries.

This system is more efficient as the power is directly carried to the final drive.