The hybrid auto, a concept introduced to the U.S. market in 1999, now accounts for 10.6 percent of the 8 million cars sold every year. Consumers and manufacturers alike have great incentive to buy and make hybrids because the perceived benefits of this auto—lower CO2 emissions and fuel efficiency—are especially marketable as part of the larger trend of recent years towards “going green.” So marketable, it seems, that people are willing to bet real money on Popsci.Com's Prediction Exchange network that the hybrid car will account for at least 40 percent of all autos sold by 2015 (“Hybrid Cars More Than 40 Percent of Vehicles Sold”). With the explosive popularity of these cars, it is definitely worth it to sift through what the hybrid promises to achieve and what it will actually achieve.
[...] "Economic and Environmental Comparison of Conventional, Hybrid, Electric and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles." Journal of Power Sources 159 (2006): 1186-1193. How dependent are we on Foreign Oil? Energy Information Administration. Washington D.C.: United States Department of Energy May 2008 < http: featureclicked="3&">. "Hybrid Cars More Than 40 Percent of Vehicles Sold." Popular Science: PPX May May 2008 < http:>. "Hybrid Cars Vs Regular Cars." Green Living Answers May 2008 < http: cars>. International Comparison Program: Tables of Final Results. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Washington D.C.: The World Bank May 2008 < http: results.pdf>. Kim, H. C., G. A. Keoleian, D. [...]
[...] The hybrid is a vehicle necessary for coping with the demands of the future, a savior of the individual who needs a car but also needs food and money for rent, though we cannot be complacent enough to call it the answer to world problems. What Benefit Does the Consumer Receive? What is it exactly that sets the hybrid auto apart from the conventional one? According to Richard A. Muller, a Professor at U.C. Berkeley, the hybrid auto is one of efficiency: while the hybrid gets its energy from a battery, the battery is charged by a gasoline engine ran at a “constant rate, under ideal conditions, and as a result, it is two to three times as efficient as the engine in ordinary cars” (Physics for Future Presidents, 8). [...]
[...] E. Grande, and J. C. Bean. "Life Cycle Optimization of Automobile Replacement: Model and Application." Environmental Science and Technology 37th ser. (2003): 203-226. Lovins, A. B., and D. R. Cramer. "Hypercars, Hydrogen, and the Automotive Transition." International Journal of Vehicle Design 35th ser. (2004): 50- 85. Muller, Richard A. “Energy.” Physics for Future Presidents. Mason: Thompson Muller, Richard A. "Global Warming." Physics for Future Presidents. Mason: Thompson Schipper, L. J., and L. Fulton. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Transportation: Trends, [...]
[...] Statistics like this reveal that the hybrid car cannot solve everything. In an effort to sell more cars, companies have exaggerated to an extreme degree the benefit of hybrid cars with regards to global warming and oil independence Credits for Hybrid Cars”). The hyperbole of hybrid's revolutionary character has even encouraged a false sense of environmentalism through hybrid SUVs. There is the sense that the hybrid car takes the place of more meaningful environmental activities like walking or carpooling. The future of the hybrid car is not to save the world—there are only insignificant environmental benefits to selling hybrid cars—it is instead to save people money. [...]
[...] In terms of global change the hybrid the hybrid is not yet significant, therefore more research and innovations into things such as plug-in hybrids are completely necessary before car companies can honesty promote hybrids as saving more than just the money in your pocket. Keywords Hybrid Greenhouse gas emissions Economic benefit Oil dependence Environmental benefit Works Cited Beg, N., J. C. Morlot, O. Davidson, Y. Afrane-Okesse, L. Tyani, F. Denton, Y. Sokona, J. P. Thomas, E. L. La Rovere, J. [...]
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