i know that a hybrid electric vehicle is battery powered
i would like to know what is used to power a hybrid vehicle
which hybrid needs to be plugged in and which one doesnt?
A hybrid vehicle is any vehicle which obtains its motive power from more than one source.
"Hybrid-electric" is a shortened term for a gas-electric or diesel-electric vehicle. Often, this is further shortened to just "hybrid". This is done because it is assumed that one power source is some type of fossil fuel combustion, and the second is a battery. The full term for vehicles like the Prius or Insight is "gasoline combustion – electric [battery] hybrid vehicle". There are other types of hybrid vehicles; for example, hydrogen combustion – electric [battery] hybrid vehicles which have been prototyped, and solar electric – electric [battery] hybrids which have been used in competitions. There are also gasoline combustion – hydrogen combustion hybrids (used only for experimentation) which run on hydrogen locally, and then gasoline for longer drives.
There are vehicles which convert their drive power, for example diesel-electric locomotives, but these are not hybrids. The locomotive obtains all of its power from a diesel engine. The electricity is only used as an intermediate to turn the wheels, essentially as a fancy electro-magnetic transmission. There are electro-diesels, which are hybrid electric-diesel locomotives which run on electricity (provided by overhead wires), or diesel where the power lines couldn’t be installed.
A gasoline-electric hybrid works on a simple principle. To keep a car moving at highway speed (e.g. a Civic), only 41 kW (55 HP) of power is typically necessary; however, the typical gasoline engine is usually about 110 HP (82 kW). This means that when cruising, the engine is putting out about half of its peak power, which is actually rather inefficient. For city driving, the engine’s output is completely wasted when stopped. BUT, when accelerating, that 110 HP is necessary. So you need a "big" engine to accelerate, but a small engine to keep going.
The answer, put in a smaller engine, and an electric motor to provide a boost when you need it. So a Civic has a 93 HP (69 kW) gasoline engine, with a 15 kW electric motor to make up the rest. This is termed an "electric assist hybrid". The battery is charged by the excess output of the gasoline engine.
The Prius uses a 58 HP (43 kW) gasoline engine and a 30kW electric motor. It has more balance between the electric and the engine, but it is still an electric assist hybrid. However, if slower accelerations are used it can be propelled by the electric motor alone at low (city) speed. Again, the batteries are normally charged from the excess energy produced by the gasoline engine, but some people use a plug-in conversion which allows charging of the batteries from the electrical outlet. They then run off the battery on the local streets, and the gasoline engine starts only when they hit the highway, or the batteries start running down.
They’re the same thing. Because the only hybrids we currently have are gas/electric (and some diesel/electric) hybrids, people just shorten the name to ‘hybrid’.
References :
A hybrid is a vehicle which has a means of storing energy from braking and using it for propulsion instead of discarding it as heat.
Hybrid-electrics use electric motor/generators as the regenerative braking system. There are also hydraulic hybrids (for things like garbage trucks) which instead use hydraulic pumps to push oil into an "accumulator" (a tank partially filled with high-pressure nitrogen) and then let the oil out again to run the pumps as hydraulic motors. Hydraulic hybrids are more efficient for frequent low-speed start/stop cycles, but are heavy and don’t have the energy for acceleration to high speed.
Currently, you cannot buy a hybrid car which uses anything but gasoline for power. This is due to change next year when the VentureOne and Aptera come to market, and GM will have the Volt in 2010. These will take electricity as well, which will displace some gasoline and allow the vehicle to run 20-40 miles after a charge without needing fuel.
References :
http://www.flytheroad.com
http://www.aptera.com
http://gm-volt.com/
A hybrid vehicle is any vehicle which obtains its motive power from more than one source.
"Hybrid-electric" is a shortened term for a gas-electric or diesel-electric vehicle. Often, this is further shortened to just "hybrid". This is done because it is assumed that one power source is some type of fossil fuel combustion, and the second is a battery. The full term for vehicles like the Prius or Insight is "gasoline combustion – electric [battery] hybrid vehicle". There are other types of hybrid vehicles; for example, hydrogen combustion – electric [battery] hybrid vehicles which have been prototyped, and solar electric – electric [battery] hybrids which have been used in competitions. There are also gasoline combustion – hydrogen combustion hybrids (used only for experimentation) which run on hydrogen locally, and then gasoline for longer drives.
There are vehicles which convert their drive power, for example diesel-electric locomotives, but these are not hybrids. The locomotive obtains all of its power from a diesel engine. The electricity is only used as an intermediate to turn the wheels, essentially as a fancy electro-magnetic transmission. There are electro-diesels, which are hybrid electric-diesel locomotives which run on electricity (provided by overhead wires), or diesel where the power lines couldn’t be installed.
A gasoline-electric hybrid works on a simple principle. To keep a car moving at highway speed (e.g. a Civic), only 41 kW (55 HP) of power is typically necessary; however, the typical gasoline engine is usually about 110 HP (82 kW). This means that when cruising, the engine is putting out about half of its peak power, which is actually rather inefficient. For city driving, the engine’s output is completely wasted when stopped. BUT, when accelerating, that 110 HP is necessary. So you need a "big" engine to accelerate, but a small engine to keep going.
The answer, put in a smaller engine, and an electric motor to provide a boost when you need it. So a Civic has a 93 HP (69 kW) gasoline engine, with a 15 kW electric motor to make up the rest. This is termed an "electric assist hybrid". The battery is charged by the excess output of the gasoline engine.
The Prius uses a 58 HP (43 kW) gasoline engine and a 30kW electric motor. It has more balance between the electric and the engine, but it is still an electric assist hybrid. However, if slower accelerations are used it can be propelled by the electric motor alone at low (city) speed. Again, the batteries are normally charged from the excess energy produced by the gasoline engine, but some people use a plug-in conversion which allows charging of the batteries from the electrical outlet. They then run off the battery on the local streets, and the gasoline engine starts only when they hit the highway, or the batteries start running down.
References :