Hybrid Jungle

Even though some of us weren’t around to enjoy it, we still cant help but hold a piece of the muscle car era somewhere in our hearts.  Big cars, big horsepower, plenty of sunshine and just enough chrome.  You don’t see cars made the same way anymore, back then it was lots of steel and not so many toys.  Power windows weren’t the norm, now cars have auto up and down windows with pinch protection.  The advanced dual zone climate control systems we are growing accustomed to were eons away so you got by with a dealer added air conditioner that most likely entailed bolting some vents to the bottom of your dashboard.  But gas was cheap and oil was plentiful, or so we thought.  But the days of the big motors from the big three were coming to an end.  The fifties and sixties were a good time for auto enthusiasts as well as auto manufacturers. Read the rest of this entry »

For years you have heard about hydrogen powered vehicles being the car of the future, but does a future really exist for these vehicles? On paper hydrogen cars are the total package, they produce water vapor instead of harmful emissions, do not rely on fossil fuels, and hydrogen can even be produced from water though a process called electrolysis. As of April 2007 there were an estimated 200 prototype hydrogen vehicles on the road, so we know the technology is well past the blueprint stages. Why have these cars never made it out of the prototype stages?

There are currently two different types of hydrogen powered vehicles, combustion and fuel cell. Combustion hydrogen vehicles would run very much like a traditional combustion motor that you would find in your car today, but it would use hydrogen for fuel instead of gasoline. Fuel cell vehicles work by reacting hydrogen with oxygen to produce water and electricity. The electricity is then used to power an electric traction motor similar to what you would see on a hybrid car, or an electric vehicle. Since fuel cells tend to be more energy efficient, this technology is what most automakers are now developing. Read the rest of this entry »

Hybrid cars are now being considered as the vehicles of the future. They don’t only consume lesser gas than their regular counterparts. They also are one of the answers to the growing environmental problems we have at present. There is now a need for vehicles to be environmentally safe, and this has been answered by the different car manufacturers. The hybrid cars they came up with are becoming more and more popular to car lovers, most especially to the environmentalists.

It has been observed that a lot of places in the United States are experiencing heavy pollution, (e.g. California) and the residents of that state have decided to take action by purchasing hybrid cars. With the fact that a lot of areas have very poor quality of air, more people can’t help but feel that hybrids could be the start of the solution to this on going problem. This is because hybrid vehicles can somehow provide remission from unclean air. Read the rest of this entry »

While most people cringe when filling up their car these days, I look at the silver lining and think it is a good thing. You may think I’m crazy but I have a reasonable explanation. Twenty years from now we will look back and realize that the high gas prices, while inconvenient at the time, helped create a movement. A movement that spurred innovation and helped create change in the biggest oil consuming nation in the world.

Americans are getting fed up with the high gas prices, and this will increase the demand for fuel efficient cars, alternative forms of energy and the adoption of existing technologies like hybrid vehicles. Car manufacturers have been selling large fuel inefficient SUV’s for years now, and with good reason as that is what the public wanted. Now the public is starting to demand more fuel efficient cars and the manufacturers are starting to respond. Read the rest of this entry »

By Ron King

For anyone interested in saving money at the gas pump and helping the environment, the new hybrid cars are an excellent choice. Small and fuel-efficient, hybrids are now being made by more manufacturers than ever.

Although hybrids cost more, and can be hard to find due to high demand, it still pays to choose a hybrid. Consider the following reasons to buy a hybrid next time you are in the market for a new car. Read the rest of this entry »