Just where did the hybrid vehicle get it’s origins ? Here’s a breif history of the hybrid car. Hybrid cars are very popular for modern car buyers and there are several reasons why. Before you even think about choosing which hybrid vehicle to purchase, you might want to learn a little bit about the history of the hybrid first.

Surprisingly, hybrid cars were around even before gas-powered cars. Back in about the year 1665, a Jesuit priest by the name of Ferdinand Verbeist began plans for a certain type of vehicle. That vehicle would be very simple, nothing complex, or intricate. Simple was all he wanted.

So it was that Ferdinand designed a car that would have four wheels and would run on steam. It took about fifteen years of work for Ferdinand to go through with his plan. He worked to perfect his dream vehicle. No one knows for certain if he ever finished it because there is no evidence that his concept ever passed into existence.

Then in 1769, a man with the name of Nicholas Cugnot designed and developed a carriage that was powered by steam. This carriage really did go and it went at six miles per hour. This project was great, but it was difficult to get the amount of steam needed to allow the car to go any significant distance.

The real breakthrough in hybrid car development finally came in 1839 when Robert Anderson developed an electrically powered car. It was the first of its breed and was built in Scotland.

This type of electric car was a highly applauded innovation of its time. The only problem was that it was extremely difficult to recharge the car’s battery. Some pioneers did come after Anderson, but they had the same problem of getting the battery recharged after a few miles.

Finally in the year 1898 Porsche produced an electric and fuel combustion engine that was the first of its time. The car was called the Lohner Electric Chaise, and it could go up to 40 miles using just batteries.

Soon, pioneers combined both gas and battery powered engines to power what would turn into today’s hybrid car. In 1999, Honda made a leap into the US market. It brought out the Honda Insight, which was a lightweight two-door hybrid vehicle. Since then, hybrid cars have been evolving and improving into what we see on the market today. Hybrid cars are no longer just for the techies who think it’s cool to combine battery and liquid fuel to get them where they need to go. Hybrid cars started out simple, and they still are quite simple today.

Now hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular as people understand them more. Hybrid cars in the 21st century saw a boom in sales when the Toyota Prius was introduced. It was the first hybrid with four doors that was marketed in America.

Soon afterwards, the Ford Escape hybrid became the very first SUV hybrid vehicle ever made. And so there it is in a nut shell, the history of the hybrid car – today’s most modern on road, mass-produced vehicle.

As you pull up to the gas station pump and fill your car up with the high-dollar gasoline of today, you may find yourself releasing a long drawn out sigh. How on Earth did fuel get to be so expensive? Should you consider one of those new hybrid cars you saw on the news? Everyone’s talking about hybrid cars, is that your answer ? Hybrid cars may seem like a good idea, but before you go out and do something rash, perhaps you should ask yourself a few basic questions about how you can start saving money on gas.

There are so many variables, from staying home to buying a hybrid car that can help you save money on transportation, but you have to find out what is best for you. You can only do that by posing yourself the following questions.

Should you just drive less?

Of course, you could spend the rest of your life in the house watching movies, but how would you get by then? I know what you’re thinking! You will walk more and you’ll save money and get more exercise. That could be true, but what will happen when you get bored with walking or riding your bike? How are you going to be able to get to the gym then ? Also, have you forgotten about work ? Would it require you getting up 3hours earlier than you are now in order to walk or ride a bike to work ? You know you love listening to your books on tape while you are sitting in traffic at the end of the workday too. Is driving much less really an option ? Perhaps not. What should you do though ? Maybe the option of buying a hybrid car is exactly what you should do ?

Should I just buy a car that is more economical on gas?

Yes, you could do this, but what about when the vehicle starts to depreciate and it’s not as fuel-efficient as you thought it would be? And subconsciously, because you know you have a car that gets more mileage out of fuel, you are going to start traveling more miles than you traveled before.

Should I get up earlier each morning to look for the cheapest gas prices in town?

Honestly, who has the time to do that? If you think about it, you could probably spend your time more profitably finding the right answer to the real question. Do you really want to spend extra time looking for a cheap gas station? What will your boss think if you arrive late for work and tell him you were trying to save money on gas? And really, how long do you think you’ll keep doing that?

Should I find a way to run my car on electric batteries?

Well, let’s see now, you certainly don’t want to have to recharge your car’s batteries every day before you go to work because that might make you late too. However, with a hybrid car, you wouldn’t have to worry about that. Therefore, the next question should be quite obvious.

How about buying a hybrid car?

Perhaps you should. It’s possible that buying a hybrid car could be a wise method to avoid higher fuel prices. Would your car depreciate as soon as you drive it off the dealer’s lot? A hybrid doesn’t lose it’s value as quickly, as it saves the buyer more and more money as they save on the ever increasing gas prices. A hybrid car just might be a good solution here. However, it’s still a good idea to conduct further research on a hybrid car.

Those considering purchasing a hybrid car may be more than a little concerned about what lies under the hood. Hybrid cars have partially battery-powered motors. Since a battery powered engine is not something that typically springs to mind when you think about what is driving a vehicle, it’s a good idea to get some sort of an understanding of hybrid car battery packs. You will find a few pertinent details about them below.

Hybrid car battery packs do not need to be replaced like flashlight batteries do. They are made to exceed the lifetime of the car, and therefore, a hybrid car’s warranty covers the battery pack for a time period that lasts between eight and ten years. In terms of mileage, a hybrid car battery pack is designed to last between 150,000 and 200,000 miles, and the odds are that it will probably last even longer than that.

The toxicity of hybrid car battery packs is a worry, but not a major problem, because hybrid car batteries use NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries, not the cheaper rechargeable (NiCad) nickel cadmium ones. Nickel cadmium batteries can be detrimental to the environment if not disposed of professionally, but the NiMH batteries that are sold in hybrid car battery packs are very safe and fully recyclable.

Hybrid car battery packs are made up of hundreds and hundreds of cells. Several hundred cells means that hybrid cars have a complex battery structure underneath their hoods, and, it is true, complexity usually translates into expense, but with the generous warranty hybrid car manufacturers are giving on their vehicles, there is not much risk of additional massive expense from the battery pack involved in purchasing a hybrid car.

The number of hybrid car battery pack failures reported has been really very low. When I say low, I mean negligible. If failure does occur, it is usually before the hybrid car even leaves the lot. Toyota has even said that some of its first Prius hybrid models have battery packs that have gone more than 300,000 miles.

The cost of renewing hybrid car battery packs isn’t really even an issue. It isn’t a problem because the hybrid car battery packs are built for longevity. The Department of Energy inspected hybrid cars, but stopped its tests when the capacity was determined to be “just like new” after 160,000 miles. So, very few people really seem to know for sure what it costs to replace hybrid car battery packs.

Hybrid car battery packs are evolving very quickly. If we look into the near future, we can see the next generation of hybrid car batteries is already in the works. The goal is, of course, to discover a technology that provides lots of power, lasts for the hybrid car’s lifetime, and costs less to make than it does today.

If your hybrid car battery pack does run out, there is an easy solution. Toyota has put out some advice on what to do,  after the guarantee has expired. Their advice is to have the battery reconditioned. This solution works well because if something does go wrong, the problem usually lies with only one of the 28 modules that make up the battery.

So, if you simply replace the problematic module with one that matches the chemistry of the other 27 modules, your hybrid car’s battery should be back in good shape. You can find a match by getting a battery pack from another car that has a similar mileage and age.