Hybrid Cars Incentives
Why use hybrid cars
Hybrid cars have several advantages for both the economy and the environment at large. Use of hybrid cars results in fuel conservation in situations like full stop, low speedinitial acceleration from a stop, heavy acceleration, highway driving, braking, coasting and deceleration and backing up. At full stop the hybrid car is propelled by electric motor as the gas engine is shut off (Brown, 2009). In towns where there is heavy traffic on the roads, where cars stop several times, this saves large amounts of fuel. Thus, hybrid vehicles are ideal for driving on busy city streets (Jill, 2008). During initial acceleration and at a speed below 40MPH, the hybrid car is propelled by the electric motor (Hawkins, 2009). This saves on fuel consumption though such low speed is unrealistic. During heavy acceleration, the hybrid car is usually powered by both the high torque electric motor and the gas engine typically through some type of power splitting device (Bonnie, 2009). Though not much fuel is saved during such acceleration, but none the less there is some advantages in fuel consumption as opposed to conventional cars. Some hybrids use a smaller, more efficient gasoline engine hence get slightly better highway mileage than the non-hybrid cars because the hybrid have continuously variable transmissions that allows the engine to operate at optimal RPM and the electric motor can assist for passing (Rodney, 2009). When the hybrid car is braking gently or coasting, the forward kinetic energy that gets dissipated as heat is converted to electric energy (Haber, 2008). This electric energy charges the battery pack (regenerative braking) (Hawkins, 2009). This process saves on fuel consumption by the car since the energy saved will be used at some stage to propel the car. In hybrid cars going in reverse, the gas engine do not operate, instead the electric motor propels the car hence saving on some fuel consumed (Jill, 2008). This is known as backing up. The hybrid cars starts automatically when the battery gets low and proceeds to charge the battery - a hybrid never needs to be plugged into an outlet (Hawkins, 2009).The fact that the electrical battery pack is automatically recharged with regenerative braking is advantageous toward fuel consumption.
Hybrid cars offer many environmental advantages as well. When the car is being propelled by electrical motor system, the environmental pollution is reduced by the reduced tailpipe emissions (Brown, 2009). Even a tiny increase in fuel economy makes a large difference in emissions over the life of the car (Bonnie, 2009). A larger difference is made in large cities where pollution is high. This is because very little harmful sulfur or carbon emissions are produced during low speed city driving and the inevitable traffic jams (Haber, 2008). It is estimated that a hybrid car cuts emissions by 25 to 35 over even the most fuel efficient gas powered models (Hawkins, 2009). Both the nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries which are used in hybrid cars are regarded as more environmentally friendly than lead-based batteries which constitute the bulk of car batteries today(Rodney, 2009).
Use of hybrid cars is much economical. First, hybrid car systems come with 8 year warranties (Jill, 2008). Unlike conventional cars which have short time warranties, this is economical in terms of repairs. Secondly, people who buy hybrid cars also get tax deductionscredits for Clean Fuel Property(Ricky, 2006). Third, oil consumption can drop considerably, if enough people drive hybrids responsibly (Rodney, 2009). This can cause OPEC to reduce fuel prices, which can result in some saving by the government.
of hybrid cars
Hybrid cars are more expensive than cars which use conventional fuels, even among cars produced by the same manufacturer (Haber, 2008). It can take years to recover the additional costs incurred in buying a hybrid vehicle through gas saving. These high prices make ownership of hybrid cars to be limited to few individuals. The differences in prices for hybrid cars reflects the fact that much of the technology was newly developed during the early part of the 21st Century, while the mechanical elements of the gas engine cars have long since been amortized -- or paid for by years of manufacture and use(Philip, 2006). Thus, the prices of hybrid vehicles are expected to decline with time.
The proficiency to attain high speed is also checked in most cases. The battery life and the cost for the battery change is considered to be an inevitable con associated with the hybrid car. The security factors raised due to the light weight body is also a risk for hybrid cars.
Attaining the claimed EPA fuel economy estimates for hybrid cars or conventional gas cars for that matter may be hard (Philip, 2006). This is because the EPA fuel economy estimates do not reflect real driving conditions, since they (estimates) assume slower than normal highway driving and slow acceleration on level roads.
Hybrid cars are heavier than non-hybrid cars. This is because hybrid cars have both an electric battery in addition to conventional gasoline engine which provides supplemental power to the car (Hawkins, 2009). Importation of raw materials and assembling of components from long distances is often required in the manufacture of hybrid cars which makes cost of production to be high (Philip, 2006). However, the future hybrids will likely be lighter. For instance, the adoption of lithium-ion batteries is expected to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle and to improve fuel economy with a consequent reduction in carbon (VI) oxide emissions (Philip, 2006).
The major question among the disadvantages of hybrid cars is the practical viability of the energy efficiency of hybrid cars (Rasta, 2008). As the popularity of hybrid cars and electric cars increases, the demand on the power grid is likely to increase (Haber, 2008). However, this is not always the case. Thus, the reduction in carbon emissions by hybrid and electric cars would be largely cancelled out because of their dependence on recharging from coal-powered plants (Haber, 2008).
Disposal of spent batteries used by hybrid cars is a major environmental problem. Thus, more research to develop less toxic battery packs for electric and hybrid cars are required (Philip, 2006). Nickel-based batteries, which are commonly used in hybrid cars, are known to be carcinogenic, and have been shown to cause a variety of cancerous effects (Philip, 2006).Thus there is need to carry out more research and subsequent use of lithium-ion batteries which are appealing because of their highest energy density and their production of a higher voltage than that of nickel-metal hydride battery cell.
In most hybrid cars, the proficiency to attain high speed is checked in most cases (Rasta, 2008). For people who value time this could be a drawback to such technology. Thus there is need to develop hybrid cars which can move faster but which still posses environmental and economic advantages.
There are security issues which are raised due to the light materials which are used in the construction of the hybrid cars (Haber, 2008). In addition, in case of an accident, there is exposure to high voltage wires, which can result in electric shock. This means that few people will be willing to risk there lives driving such vehicles. Thus, there is need to build hybrid cars which are heavier (without increasing harmful sulfur or carbon emission or increasing fuel consumption) for the security purposes of the drivers.
Hybrid cars have a complicated system (combination of electric motor and the gasoline engine) which requires experienced mechanics only to take care of it (Bonnie, 2009). Furthermore, it is very hard to find spare parts which may also be costly since very few people have such vehicles.
The need for incentives
Since very few people can afford to own the high priced hybrid vehicles, the ultimate goal of reducing emissions to the environment is not realized. Also, the economic importance of such vehicles is not achieved at national level hence there is little if any conservation of fuel. This means that there will be a continued over reliance on the petroleum products as a form of fuel hence the prices of fuel will continue to be raised by the oil producing countries. If buyers of hybrid vehicles are given incentives such as tax cuts and credits, then many people can own such hybrid cars with overall outcome of realization of the goal to conserve the environment and cut on expenditure on petroleum product. Incentives toward research in the improvement of the hybrid cars can result in reduced cost of production which can then lead to reduced prices. Such tax cuts and credits could be in the form of a fuel economy amount that is based on the cars fuel consumption and a conservation credit that is based on the estimated lifetime fuel savings of the vehicle (Stephen, F. and Sandra B. 2008). Therefore, the government needs to invest much in research if any of the advantages associated with the use of hybrid cars will be realized. Giving manufacturers tax cuts in the promotion of the hybrid vehicles will translate into reduction of prices. This will encourage more people to own these cars and in the long run the economical and environmental advantages will be realized.
Conclusion
Since the hybrid cars are associated with less pollution and higher energy efficiency incentives for people who purchase hybrid cars need to be increased. If many people are able to use hybrid cars, dependence on fuel will drastically reduce and will result in cutting down of the fuel prices by oil producing countries. Incentives to users of hybrid cars could through government allowing tax credit and reductions for the promotion of the hybrid cars. The disadvantages of hybrid cars need to be used as motivators for government to provide more incentives towards the improvement of the hybrid cars.
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