Are Hybrid Cars The Answer To The Fuel Crisis?

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Hybrid automobiles are not the answer to the current fuel crisis in the United States. A common misconception with automobiles is that electric motors can somehow use less power to advance a vehicle along a road. This is not the case, as the laws of physics cannot be bent. An automobile needs a specific amount of power to travel along a road at a given speed, it does not matter what source is providing said power. These so called “green” automobiles, which are considered to be hybrids and electric cars, are actually less green than their internal combustion engine powered counterparts. With that said, they only seem so efficient because the matter in which they are tested does not accurately represent how a typical daily driver would drive. Auto manufacturers are neglecting to provide useful information about a hybrids performance, that is, the fuel economy of a hybrid as its battery is charging. It’s often the case that a battery need be recharged after 40 to 60 miles of driving, and that is where the fuel economy isn’t so peachy. The plug in solutions that manufacturers are pushing for by means of mass adoption, are only creating more pollution. The filthy air rising from powerplants’ smoke stacks is a byproduct of coal being burnt, which in turns provides electricity to charge up the batteries of a hybrid.

Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states that, “If body A exerts a force on body B, then body B will exert an equal and opposite force back on A for the same period of time” (Wikipedia). In relation to driving an automobile, this means that in order for a vehicle to accelerate along a road, it has to overcome wind resistance and friction between the tires and pavement. Most importantly, both forces are related to th...

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...the wall” is the far from eco friendly. The marketing and advertising teams at car companies are having a field day with creating this false image of a hybrid being economically viable, and it surely is not. Car companies cannot rewrite the laws of physics, which govern the world we live in. These audacious claims to great fuel economy and being eco friendly are misleading the uninformed public. A car’s fuel efficiency is directly related to its aerodynamic efficiency, not various sources that power it. If fuel efficiency is measured in miles per gallon, then clearly an electric motor, which does not directly use fuel, will produce greater statistics than its gasoline powered counterparts. Electric motors will inevitably replace the gas-powered car of today, but they should only do so when they can create less pollution, which they cannot at this point in time.

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