A hybrid car is better than a conventional car due to fuel efficiency and limited environmental pollution. Most of the environmental problems that many modernized societies have to contend with today emanate from overreliance on fossil fuel as the primary source of energy. This includes the transport sector where fossil fuel cars are the main mode of transport.
One of the consistent debates is the economic as well as the environmental consequences of running a fossil fuel car. Gasoline is derived from crude oil and increased consumption means increased depletion of natural resources and an increase in the release of carbon based gases which in effect increase global warming (Union of Concerned Scientists paras 1 to 9).
Hybrid cars have come to replace gasoline cars. Hybrid cars have a lesser gas consumption thus a higher mile per gallon. It also means that the cars have a reduced emission of carbon based gas and thus less pollution (Dunn paras 4, 5). To supply suffice information that answers the thesis statement, I will search through the internet for credible sources on the advantages of hybrid cars.
I will contrast gasoline only powered cars and hybrid cars by focusing on the effects on both the environment as well as the economy. To support my claims I will also source for statistical data from credible sources. These statistics will mainly focus fuel efficiency and environmental pollution. Within this essay I will I will introduce my argument.
I will explain the positive aspect of the hybrid over the fossil fuel car. In the body of the paper I will explain each coordinating points. I will give an example for each coordinating to support my stand. In my conclusion, I will sum up my argument by defending the assumption that if everyone drove hybrid cars, it could save our future in term of Ozone layer and reduce our use of natural resources.
Hybrid cars are more fuel efficient than gasoline only powered car. According to a survey done by the New York Times four years after the first hybrid car came into the market, reveal that the first two hybrid car released into the mass market were more fuel efficient than gasoline only cars (Lake 1).
While a survey by Federal Highway Administration reveal that a normal car returns between 25 to 35 miles per gallon depending the speed car types and resistance, a normal hybrid engine consumes less (Federal Highway Administration 79). A survey by Edmunds reveals that seven of the top ten most efficient cars were hybrid.
Within this group of cars, hybrids were found to be the most fuel efficient. Toyota Prius Hybrid was found to return about 50 miles per gallon while the Honda Insight Hybrid registered about 45 mile per gallon. The Honda Civic Hybrid consumed one gallon for every 40 mile on a city drive while and about 45 while on highway drive.
Edmunds further reveal that gasoline only powered cars can at best return between 20 and 30 miles per gallon. This means that a hybrid car returns between 10 and 20 of extra miles as compared to a gasoline only powered car (Living Strong para 4, 5). So optimistic are hybrid makers that that the future even look bright.
Newer fuel efficient technologies are being developed. Volkswagen leads this front with a new diesel engine that only consumes about 3 litres of for every 100 kilometers travelled. This means that Volkswagen engine can return 69 miles per gallon (Kaho para 2).
Other than the miles per gallon perspective, fuel efficiency can also evaluated by analyzing the cost per mile. With the ever increasing cost of gasoline, users of motor vehicle are relieved to find out that hybrid cars cost less to run per mile as compared to gasoline only powered cars.
While gasoline powered cars are less expensive as compared to hybrid cars, the cost of running them per mile is very low. Assuming that the cost of gasoline is about US $ 4.30 per gallon, running a gasoline powered car per mile cost the user in excess of 13 cents per mile.
This is a stack contrast to the below 10 cents per mile that a hybrid consumes. These two costs per mile have been taken for Honda Fit, a non hybrid car verses Toyota Prius Hybrid. Suffice to say that even though Toyota Prius is much more expensive the Honda fit, it also has a bigger capacity.
This men that by buying Toyota Prius hybrid instead of Honda Fit the user will get the best value in terms of consumption Cost of running per mile as well as carrying capacity and power (Darby 2). This is fuel efficiency and it also means that the lesser the fuel consumed the lesser the emission of carbon based gases into the environment.
Because of their fuel efficiency, hybrid cars consume far less fuel than gasoline only powered cars. This is due to the fact that hybrid cars have one engine that combine the two types of energy sources; gasoline and electricity.
While there are two types of hybrid engines, the parallel and the series hybrid, both of these engines combines electricity and gasoline for fuel efficiency. This results in less fuel consumed as compare to the amount of fuel consumed by a gasoline only powered car.
The lesser the gasoline consumed, the lesser the amount of carbon based gases released by these automobiles into the environment. This is the new face of energy efficiency; Consumption against the amount of green house gas emitted (Heinzmann and Taylor 2). This means that fuel efficiency has a direct implication on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted.
A study conducted for the university of California suggest that gasoline only powered cars have a very high emission of carbon dioxide equivalent as compared to hybrid cars. This study reveals that the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in California would greatly reduce if a bigger number of hybrid cars were in operations.
Over its entire lifestyle, the Honda Civic LX produces about 62 tones of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This is a very large figure as compared to 47 tones that the Honda Civic Hybrid produces. This means that the Honda Civic hybrid produces 24 % of greenhouse gas emission as compared to its sister.
These figures have not been derived by only considering fuel combustion but also consider the material used in the production, transportation of the product to the market as well as the assembly of the product. Furthermore, while it is cheaper to buy Honda Civic LX there is no differences cost of maintenance as compared to its hybrid sister, the Honda civic hybrid.
Considering all factors, both vehicles cost the user about US $ 2700 in purchases and maintenance, despite Civic LX costing US $ 4000 less (Estudillo, Koehn, Levy, Olsen and Taylor 28 to 37). This proves that in terms of environmental friendliness, hybrid cars are more efficient as compared to gasoline only powered cars.
There is need to get more hybrid cars on the road. This is due to the benefit that will be accrued from doing this. Hybrid cars are far much better and advantageous as compared to gasoline only powered cars. While gasoline only powered cars have simpler engine configurations, hybrids are economically as well as environmentally friendly. Hybrid cars combine gasoline and electricity to power them.
This means that there is less fuel consumed by hybrid cars. The lesser fuel that is consumed by hybrids has direct impact economically as well as environmentally. On the economic front it is cheaper to run a hybrid car per mile than a fully powered gasoline car. While his effect may not be felt is much more felt by the individual user, it is much useful to the entire economy.
Moreover the less the gasoline that is consumed by hybrids, the lesser the amount of carbon based gases as well as greenhouse gases emitted into the environment. As such the rate of global climate change as well as stratospheric ozone depletion will significantly reduce.
This also means that there will be a significant reduction in demand for gasoline and thus the demand for crude oil will significantly go down. This is one of avoid the excessive depletions of natural resources. As such our future will be safer and sustainable.
Works Cited
Darby, Ray. “The Best Fuel Economy for the Dollar.” 2008. Web.
Dunn, Philip. “Hybrid Cars — Pros and Cons.” 2006. Web.
Estudillo et al. “Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Hybrid-Electric Vehicles: An Environmental and Economic Analysis.” 2005. Web.
Federal Highway Administration. “Steady Speed Fuel Economy “The two earlier studies by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) indicate maximum fuel efficiency was achieved at speeds of 35 to 40 mph.” Web.
Heinzmann, John and Taylor, Michael. “The Role of the Segway Personal Transporter (PT) in Emissions Reduction and Energy Efficiency.” 2007. Web.
Kaho, Todd. “VW’s Breakthrough 69 MPG Diesel Hybrid,” 2008. Web.
Lake, Matt. “How It Works; A Tale of 2 Engines: How Hybrid Cars Tame Emissions.” New York Times. 2001. Web.
Living Strong. “Hybrid Car Mileage Compared to Regular Cars.” 2011. Web.
Union of Concerned Scientists. The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels. 2010. Web.