Central Idea: Hybrid cars are beneficial.
INTRODUCTION
- When one thinks of the current “going green” and “environment friendly” trends, the hybrid car is one of the first things that spring to mind. But just how are these vehicles beneficial to humans in today’s world?
- Undoubtedly, hybrid cars are proving to be beneficial in today’s world in different ways.
BODY
- First, the use of hybrid cars is good for the environment.
- Use of hybrid cars reduces global carbon dioxide emissions attributed to vehicles. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.
- According to Beliveau and Rehberger (15), nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide gas are emitted into the air for every gallon of fuel combusted.
- Besides carbon dioxide, vehicles emit other poisonous gases that are detrimental to human, animal and plant health. These include carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.
- The fact that a hybrid car generates power from an electric motor and a gasoline engine means that it uses less fuel and, therefore, emits a smaller amount of fumes than a conventional vehicle.
- There is reduced pollution when the car is idling.
- When a hybrid car is idling, no fuel is used.
- The engine simply shuts off and an electric motor takes over.
- The hybrid car has a smaller combustion engine than the conventional car. Smaller combustions engines run more efficiently than larger ones.
The benefit to the environment is not the only benefit associated with the use of hybrid cars.
- The second benefit is that the use of hybrid cars results in significant cost savings.
- Hybrid cars save on costs by being gasoline-efficient as reported by Dunn (1).
- According to many of my friends who own hybrid cars, the average hybrid car gets between 48 and 60 miles to the gallon.
- This is equivalent to 30% better than the average fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicle such as the Honda Civic, which gets only about 36 miles to the gallon.
- In addition, hybrid cars come at a cost of between $19,000 and $25,000 while fuel-efficient cars range between $14,000 and $17,000.
- This proves that buying a hybrid car results to savings on the initial cost. Fuel bills are also drastically reduced (Simpson 2).
- The hybrid car user saves costs in the long term.
- One saves $2,300 in ten years by using a hybrid car as compared to conventional car users in terms of repairs and maintenance.
- Increased efficiency is derived from improved weight reduction, aerodynamics, and a smaller, more efficient engine.
With the increasing reports of dwindling fossil fuel reserves, hybrid cars provide a good alternative. Researchers predict that they will slowly lead to the development of fully electric or alternative fuel vehicles for the future.
CONCLUSION
- After examining the two benefits it may be understood that the use of hybrid cars does not only result in reduction of environmental pollution but also leads to cost savings on fuel.
- This underlines the need for further development into even more efficient hybrid cars for the future.
- With the depletion of fossil fuel reserves quickly becoming an inevitable reality, it will not be entirely surprising to ride in a fully electric vehicle in ten years time!
Work cited
Beliveau, Michael, and James Rehberger. "A Study on Hybrid Cars: Environmental Effects and Consumer Habits." Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3.3 (2010): 1-48. Print.
Dunn, Philip . "Hybrid Cars: Pros and Cons." Hybrid Cars:0020Pros and Cons. Version 1. Phys.org, 19 Jan. 2006. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://phys.org/news10031.html>.
Simpson, A. . "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technology." National Renewable Energy Laboratory 2.22 (2006): 1-10. Print.
