What's a Hybrid?
A Hybrid electric car -- or petrol-electric hybrid powered car -- is a car that uses electricity as well as petrol to power the motor.
Typically, a hybrid vehicle achieves greater fuel economy and lower emissions than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, resulting in fewer emissions being generated.
These savings are primarily achieved by:
- Regenerative braking - the electric motor that drives the hybrid can also slow the car.
In this mode, the electric motor acts as a generator and charges the batteries while the car is slowing down - Having significant battery storage capacity to store and reuse recaptured energy
- Shutting down the gasoline or diesel engine during traffic stops or other idle periods
- Relying on both the gasoline or diesel engine and the electric motors for peak power needs.
However, for continuous high speed highway use, these features are much less useful in reducing fuel consumption and therefore emissions.
What hybrid cars are available in Australia?
- Toyota Prius
- Toyota Camry Hybrid
- Honda Civic Hybrid
- Toyota Lexus RX 400h
- Toyota Lexus GS 450H
- Toyota Lexus LS 600HL
Fuel consumption
Hybrid cars consume less petrol than conventional cars, using under some circumstances only 50 per cent of the fuel consumed by a conventional car.
However NRMA expert Greg Fraser says hybrid cars' fuel efficiency varies from car to car, depending on how the hybrid/petrol relationship is constructed.
Fuel consumption also depends on whether the car is being driven in a city or on an open road.
Hybrid cars tend to be very fuel efficient around town, when compared to non-hybrid vehicles.
Test Drive
We tested the Honda Civic, Prius and Camry.
They are three very different cars.
Disclaimer: We are not mechanics, motoring journalists or "experts".
We did a test drive to find out how the "average" person would experience these hybrid cars.
It is only our opinion, no benchmark testing, just to give you an idea how these cars perform under "normal" driving conditions.
Honda Civic Hybrid: Tested August 2009.
A small car.The motor stops when the car comes to a complete stop. The moment the break-pedal is released, the petrol engine comes back to life.
However, in practice there is a noticeable delay while the engine starts and before moving of again.
We found it annoying, especially in stop start traffic.
On the freeway the Honda was struggling to maintain speed going up hill and the 1.3 litre engine did not have anything in reserve.
The car does save fuel, however when you compare it to the 40% larger engine capacity of the 1.8 litre,
the savings are marginal and come almost entirely from the urban driving.
In fact given the relative sizes, the 1.8 litre engine would be more efficient on the highway.
The Honda Hybrid has the smallest engine of the Civics, 1.3 litre compared to the other Civics, 1.8 and 2.0 litres.
Fuel Consumption (Green Vehicle Guide)
| Honda Civic Hybrid (1.3 litre) | Honda Civic VTi auto (1.8 litre) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | Highway | Combined | Urban | Highway | Combined | ||
| Litres/100 km | 5.3 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 10.4 | 5.3 | 7.2 | |
| Kms per litre | 18.9 | 23.3 | 21.7 | 9.6 | 18.9 | 13.9 | |
(We compared with the VTi auto, as both vehicles are automatic. The manual version has better fuel efficiency)
In our opinion, you sacrifice a lot for the fuel efficiency.
You will have to work out if the saving of fuel warrants the additional cost of the vehicle and the noticeable lack of performance.
Toyota Prius: Tested August 2009 (Gen2), Jan 2010 (Gen3)
A medium sized car.
Unlike the Honda, moving away from traffic lights is instant.
The electric motor gets you going with plenty of power while the petrol engine starts, if needed.
When we tested the 2nd generation we were impressed with the fuel efficiency.
The figures for the 3rd generation are even better.
Around town the petrol engine cuts in seamlessly.
On the freeway the car keeps up with traffic and has no problem maintaining speed going up hill.
If we had to have some complaints;
Overtaking on the freeway, (Gen 2) going from say 90 to 110 km/h creates a lot more noise, but precious little else.
It will get there, eventually. However, bear in mind it is only a 1.5 litre engine.
The 3rd Generation is an improvement with its larger, 1.8 litre engine.
(Yet even better fuel efficiency)
| Toyota Prius Gen 2 (1.5 litre) | Toyota Prius Gen 3 (1.8 litre) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | Highway | Combined | Urban | Highway | Combined | ||
| Litres/100 km | NA | NA | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.9 | |
| Kms per litre | NA | NA | 22.7 | 25.6 | 27.0 | 25.6 | |
These cars a technologically very advanced.
You can even drive up to about 30km per hour, for (short) distances, up to about 2 km, on battery power alone.
Useful in slow moving traffic and car parks.
In order to make the Prius look more like a normal car, the designers have replaced the quirky gear stick in the dashboard
with a more conventionally placed one, thereby reducing the legroom for the driver.
For some people this may feel positively claustrophobic.
Overall, a technologically brilliant car with outstanding fuel efficiency.
It won't break any speed records and will never be a hoon car.
If your motivation is to do your bit for the environment this is a good choice,
but being green, in this case, is not cheap.
The base model is about $46,000 and the iTech about $56,000.
Toyota Camry test drive coming soon.
How does a Hybrid work?
The first, most basic hybrid cars, used to turn the engine off when you stopped and automatically re-started it when you started to drive again.
This method would save fuel while traveling around town.
The downside was that there was a noticeable delay while the motor was re-started.
Driving on the freeway was like driving any other car as the the petrol engine had no reason to shut down.
Current Hybrid Vehicles
Some of the current hybrid vehicles have the technology to shut down the petrol engine, whenever power is not needed.
Any time the car stops; waiting at traffic lights, or standing still in traffic jams, the petrol engine stops and uses the batteries to run for example air-conditioning.
 |
 |
 |
Car stopped | Driving Away - Electric Only | Normal Driving - Petrol Only |
When starting to drive the electric engine provides immediate power (no lag ) and only when more torque (power) is needed the petrol motor starts.
This means when driving in slow moving traffic, the petrol engine might not start for several kms, until traffic starts moving faster or the battery is exhausted.
How is the battery recharged?
The battery is being recharged through a process called regenerative braking. |
Braking or Going Down Hill - Regenerating the Batteries |
In a non-hybrid car, when you apply the brakes, the car is slowed down because of the friction of the brake pads on the brake discs, which slows down the wheels.
That process generates a lot of heat, all of it is wasted.
However, with regenerative braking, every time the brakes are applied, the same electric motor used to power the car, now becomes a generator and recharges the battery.
The whole process is very smooth and most drivers would be unaware that it is even happening.
As a result, hybrid cars can have significant fuel saving, even at freeway conditions.
With all this energy efficiency, how does a Hybrid perform?
Some hybrids, notably the Prius, are technologically very advanced.
The Prius achieves an impressive fuel efficiency of 3.9 L/100km. It has a small 1.8lt engine and that is noticeable.
The car has been designed to squeeze the last bit of energy out of a litre of fuel, and it does.
The Camry Hybrid is just like a normal everyday Camry, it just happens to be a hybrid.
Same 2.4 litre 4 cylinder engine.
The boot is a bit smaller to accommodate the battery, other than that you would not notice a great deal of difference.
Combined Fuel efficiency is rated at 6.0 litres per 100 compared to 8.9 for a standard Camry. ( 32% saving in fuel)
However, when it comes to performance, this Camry has an added bonus.
Both engines can be used simultaneously, to deliver greater performance when needed.
 |
Extra Boost Petrol & Electric |
Hybrid cars and rising petrol prices.
Initially, the production of hybrid cars was definitely for environmental reasons more than fuel costs.
The first hybrid car released in Australia was the Toyota Prius, released in Australia in 2001, before the cost of petrol was the issue it is today.
Whilst not all of them are betting their future on hybrid technology, most realise that in these days of increased fuel prices and better environmental knowledge consumers are looking for alternatives to gas-guzzling petrol vehicles.
In the US, more and more hybrid cars are being released including the:
- Ford Escape Hybrid SUV
- Honda Civic Hybrid
- Honda Accord Hybrid
- Honda Insight
- Lexus RX400h SUV
- Mazda Tribute compact SUV
- Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV
- Nissan Altima
- Toyota Camry Hybrid
- Toyota Highlander SUV
- Toyota Prius
What is the demand for hybrid cars in Australia?
Manufacturers are selling as many as they bring in. Demand is strong and the market will determine where these cars end up.
Unless a better idea comes along, hybrid cars will be here for a while.
Hybrid cars: disadvantages
Though hybrid cars take in substantially less petroleum than conventional cars, there is still an issue regarding the environmental damage of the Hybrid car battery.Today most Hybrid car batteries are one of two types:
- Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)
- Lithium Ion (LiIon)
Though substantially less toxic than conventional car batteries, nickel-based batteries are known carcinogens, as well as can lead to a wide array of other health problems.
Note some web sites report the following:
"Little testing has been done to show the effects of nickel on people but other possible side effects may include:
Exencephaly, everted viscera, short and twisted neck, short and twisted limbs, microphthalmia, hemorrhage, and reduced body size."
However: a bit of research shows that apparently all have copied it from the same source and considering the side effects; all appear to relate to pre-natal exposure.
Lithium-ion and nickel-metal-hydride rechargeable batteries are considered to be less toxic than the nickel-cadmium and lead-acid batteries. (National Renewable Energy Laboratory).
On the positive side:
Even with its low value as scrap, the recycling rate for lead-acid batteries is over 95%.
The metals used in batteries for hybrids are NiMH and LiIon.
Both of these metals are inherently more valuable than lead, and since the batteries are quite large, the value of the spent battery packs will be such that the recycling rate will approach 100%.
It is illegal to dispose of these batteries in a landfill and their value will ensure that is not their fate.
Nickel will be reclaimed during the recycling process.
Lithium is even less toxic and more valuable than nickel.
What is a "Plug-in Hybrid"?
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid vehicle with batteries that can be recharged by connecting to an electric power source.
The car runs on battery power for the first 10 to 60 miles (16–100 km) depending on the size of the battery, with the petrol engine available for faster acceleration, etc.
After the battery is nearly discharged, the car reverts to the gasoline engine to recharge the battery and/or return the car to the charging station.
This may get around the fundamental obstacle of battery range.
Whereas the hybrid battery needs to be recharged by the petrol motor, the battery of the Plug-in Hybrid can be plugged into a standard AC outlet, adding the convenience of home recharging.
Disadvantages of plug-in hybrids include the additional cost, weight and size of a larger battery pack.
FAQ
How Many cars are sold in Australia and how many are hybrids?
Of the 1 million cars currently sold each year in Australia, about 5,000 are hybrids.
How much is the "Green Car Innovation Fund" and when does it start?
The fund is $500 million over 5 years, starting in 2011-12 with $100 million (after the next election).
(Budget Paper no.2 2008-09 page 114)
sources:
Choice
Wikipedia
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Australian Council of Recyclers