Friday, August 29, 2008

Hybrid Vehicles Are Hot!

By Rex Stevenson


Henry David Thoreau once said, "Thank god men cannot fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth." Today every single person on this earth needs to think of ways in which to be more environmentally friendly, and with the rising gasoline prices, thinking about getting one of the new hybrid vehicles is an excellent, environmentally friendly choice.

People who live green believe that the new hybrid vehicles are a great investment. Even makers realize that today's consumers are requiring more of these types of these cars. This is pretty surprising seeing as how this type of car was not quite so popular just a few years ago.

Hybrids use a combination of gas and electricity. They don't damage the environment as much and they are great on gas. These cars have both an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. They share both gas energy and electric. There are two types of hybrids on the market the full hybrid and the mild hybrid.

The Mild hybrid uses more gas than electricity and the electric motor is used only as a support to the gas engine. These are not as gas efficient as the full hybrid. They are not as environmentally friendly as the full hybrid but compared to normal vehicles, they are much more efficient.

True hybrids can function on either electric energy or gasoline independently and when the car works off of electricity then those harmful emissions are not going into the air.

The following are the different types of hybrids available:

In the SUV model: * The Lexus RX 400h is an AWD vehicle that can get about 27 miles to the gallon in the city and 25 on the highway. * Ford Escape Hybrid comes in 2 and 4 wheel drive and gets a great 36 miles to the gallon in the city and 31 on the highway. * The great Mercury Mariner comes in 4WD and can get up to 32 miles per gallon in the city and 29 on the highway. * The Saturn Vue is a 2 wd with 27 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway. * Toyota Highlander comes in 2 and 4 wd. and get about 33 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the open road.

Cars * Honda Civic Hybrid gets 49 mpg in the city and 51mpg on the highway. * Honda Accord Hybrids get 25 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway * Toyota Prius gets 48 mpg on the highway and 54mpg on the highway * Lexus GS 450h gets 25 mpg in the city and 38mpg on the highway * Nissan Altima HEV gets 42 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway * Nissan Altima gets over 40 miles per gallon and 36MPG on the highway * The Lexus GS 450h gets 38 mpg on the highway

Trucks * GMC Sierra Classic 15 hybrid comes in 2WD and 4WD. The 2WD gets 18 mpg in the city and 21 mpg in the highway. * Chevy Silverado Classic 15 Hybrid comes in both 2WD and 4WD. The 2WD gets 18 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway. The 4WD gets 17 mpg and 19 mpg on the highway.

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