Hybrid Cars - Research Paper Example

Hybrid Cars Technology and humankind are inseparable. Scholars depict that the rate of technological advancement,precisely in the United States, has had a significant influence on many industries. For instance, the change noted in automobile industry is vast. It is through this technology that hybrid automobiles have become popular in the society. In fact, studies proof that hybrid automobiles are a blend of more than two technologies, which entails merging of gasoline power with electric power. Such a permutation consent hybrid automobiles to experience lower gas emissions and low fuel competence compared to traditional gas-powered vehicles. Increase in gas and oil price seem to be going up each day, thus, a lot of people have opted going for hybrid automobiles, which makes them more and more popular. Hybrid automobiles have been introduced in order to curb issues related to pollution, global warming, and dependency upon the non-renewable oil (Anderson 12). Hybrid cars have been a major concern of today’s technology. Just like any other new and positive change in the society, this technology has both advantages and disadvantages to the society. In justification of the aforementioned statement, this paper will show how a hybrid automobile progresses all over the world by posing less threat in terms of global warming, consuming less fuel, encouraging GDP growth, and will discuss the only disadvantage, namely, high purchase and maintenance costs. Less Threat to Global Warming Global warming has taken the better part of environmentalists. Anderson, in his publication argues that the introduction of hybrid automobiles had a weighty significance to the environment (Anderson, & Anderson, 2010, p. 37). The first advantage attached to the introduction of this technology is that the automobiles pose less threat to global warming due to their low carbon dioxide emissions. This helps in conserving the future and reliable environment. Researchers suggest that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by automobiles is proportional to the fuel energy they consume. Therefore, hybrid vehicles with low fuel consumption emit low amounts of the green house gases, thus, reducing threat to the ozone layer. For instance, the Toyota Prius hybrid from the United States reduces tailpipe emissions by up to 90% and green house gas emissions by around 50% (Hilgenkamp, 2005, p. 122). Scholarly research clearly depicts that the hybrid automobiles burn far less gas per mile compared to that of convectional cars. In addition, the amount of harmful smog pollutants emitted by the hybrid cars is half compared to the traditional gasoline powered automobiles. This, thus, makes the hybrid automobiles more efficient to use. Due to the strong urge of improving mileage especially in the United States, they have encouraged people to use hybrid cars. This has resulted to production of more and luxurious automobiles, which rely on low amounts of fuel. Low fuel consumption Low fuel consumption motivates individuals and states to poses automobiles. Petite MPG (miles per gallon) improvements on incompetent automobiles saves a large amount of fuel over a given remoteness of driving since the greater the MPG, the lower the amount of carbon dioxide produced when traveling a fixed number of miles. A clear example is portrayed by the Nissan Altima hybrid, which gets 35 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway whereas the convectional car gets 33 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway. Ultimately, the MPG of a hybrid car is higher due to consumption of low fuel amounts as compared to the MPG of a convectional car, which is low due to high fuel consumption resulting to subsequent high carbon dioxide emissions (Stellet et. Al, 2011, p. 3). Arguably, hybrid automobiles consume less amounts of fuel thus reducing the need of foreign oil. The technology being outdated by the introduction of hybrid automobiles is known for high fuel consumption. In fact, statistic collected by U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) proves that the rate of fuel consumption of hybrid automobiles is less by 30% compared to the old technology. This shows how individuals and the country at large will be saved from fuel shortages that has for several decades proved to be unsolvable. GDP Growth Economic growth is what every government and the entire country aims at achieving. As depicted, United States consumes large amounts of oil yearly, which becomes very expensive to import thus taking a large percentage of the country’s GDP. In addition, the U.S. reliance on foreign oil not only poses financial hazards, but also security hazards. Low fuel consumption spares an individual from the pain of becoming a victim to price pressures in the world market. Through this therefore, the government uses the finances directed to the purchase of foreign fuels for other developmental programs within the country or saves for future use. The need to reduce high oil import prices from Arab and high gas prices led to United States opting on manufacturing of hybrid automobiles (Anderson, 2010, p. 12). It was clear that with the hybrid one could save hundred dollars a year on fuel costs and ultimately save the environment from pollution and green house gas effects. Moreover, the united state president was able to sign conformity on low tariff imposition to the hybrid automobile buyers. This became an added advantage to the hybrid car buyers since they were able to save money on taxes and on the other and enjoy tax incentives. The main aim was to encourage people to buy the hybrid automobiles becoming not only advantageous to an individual but also the whole society. However, the credits were to be short-lived and pose as an advantage to those who were able to purchase the hybrid automobiles before a manufacturer sold 60,000 hybrids. Moreover, the credits were to vary by sculpt and were to last until the year 2010 for most vehicles (Husain, 2010, p. 43). This motivated many people who bought the hybrid automobiles. Additionally, other advantages of hybrid include use of carpool, and free parking lanes at downtowns and city lots. High Purchase and Maintenance Costs On the other hand, some scholars argue that despite the efficiency provided by the hybrid automobiles, they pose a negative impact to the society. Some factors prevent them from fully competing with the traditional gas-powered vehicles. They argue that the biggest drawback experienced from these hybrid cars is that up to date they still have relatively high costs. This is due to the rare materials used to manufacture them, mostly the expensive battery. The dysprosium used to formulate many of the advanced electric motors, neodymium used as a crucial ingredient in high-strength magnets found in permanent magnet electric motors and battery systems cost a lot of money. The hybrid automobiles tend to cost usually in a range from 2,000 dollars to 5,000 dollars more than the convectional cars (Husain, 2010, p. 192).Using the basic Nissan Altima as an example, the hybrid goes for 26,500 dollars whereas the normal goes for 19,900 dollars. This becomes very expensive for many people to purchase the vehicles. Arguably, as hybrid cars are still manufactured with relatively high cost, it is therefore clear that the products usually hefty price tags. In addition, the hybrid automobiles require very qualified and professional personnel in order to carry out maintenance on the electrical system. In addition, it is not only difficult to locate a garage with the necessary equipment for repair of the hybrid automobiles but also the manufacturer, which in turn becomes very expensive, provides most of the services (Stellet et. Al, 2011, p. 7). The batteries for instance cannot be easily turned off and can electrocute someone if mishandled. Although they are termed as the vehicles of the future, they consequently seem not to be the automobiles of today. Conclusively, as evidenced in this paper, technological advancement has impacted people’s lives significantly, to a large extend improving their living standards. Therefore, adaption to this technology is inevitable. Those countries not taking innovations positively have lagged behind. As technology finds its way in society every passing day, it has to some extend improved the lifestyle of many people. Moreover, in order to preserve the precious environment, it is a logical move to enhance its sustenance, keep costs low and less taxing in the pockets by introducing hybrid automobiles. As depicted from the above discussion, the pros out do the cons and therefore there is need to expect and enhance mass production of hybrid vehicles. This is due to the economical and environmental advantages they have over the convectional cars (Husain, 2010, p. 67). Hybrid automobiles are day by day becoming more popular, hence; more researches have been oriented in order to improve their efficiency. It is important to note that a hybrid automobile is assigned a warranty of 10 years and therefore efficient and competent enough for use. To have a clean and better future there is need to focus on increased production of hybrid automobiles. References Anderson, D. C., & Anderson J. (2010). Electric and hybrid cars: A history. California: McFarland. Hilgenkamp, K. (2005). Environmental health: Ecological perspectives. California: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Husain, I. (2010). Electric and hybrid vehicles: Design fundamentals. Netherlands: CRC Press. Stellet, Jan et. al. (2011). Hybrid cars - today and in the future. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Read More