Hybrid Cars vs. Plug-in Hybrid Cars

Hybrid cars are on everyone's lips these days. $20, $30, $40 or even $50 for a tank of petrol? Who in their right mind really wants to pay that sort of money? But, frustrated, the gas consumer sighs, and pays up.

However, hybrid vehicles are being applauded for the little amount of fuel they need to operate, and they are flying off the lots of car dealerships each and everyday in ever increasing numbers.

However, what about a plug-in hybrid? Most drivers have heard that these cars are great as well. Then, a person might be asking him or herself, what exactly a plug-in hybrid is? How they work, and what the difference between a plug-in hybrid and a regular hybrid is?

Plug-in hybrid cars are capable of running solely on batteries, but they can also use fuel also. These sorts of hybrid cars have some of the features of hybrid vehicles. They are also very similar to all-electric vehicles.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles need to be recharged externally by connecting a plug to an electrical power source. The combustion engine in plug-in hybrid vehicles is used only as a back up. These cars can run only on batteries if desired, but it is expected that these kinds of hybrid cars be plugged in daily.

Hybrid cars travel just as many miles as a conventional car. Designed to go the extra mile where gas-mileage is concerned, hybrids can be driven on the motorway, in cities, or wherever else a person needs to go.

On the other hand, plug-in hybrids are designed to handle commuter-length distances, meaning between twenty and sixty miles between destinations. This way, the plug-in hybrid does not have to use its back up combustion engine, but plug-in hybrids can go further using fuel too.

Hybrids help to minimize pollution, but they still pollute the atmosphere. Compared with plug-in hybrids, hybrid cars still have a long way to go where pollution is concerned.

Since plug-in hybrid cars can run solely on their battery power, they don't have to emit waste gases. That means that plug-in hybrids don't have to pollute the air.

Plug-in hybrids actually do cut total greenhouse gas emissions and plug-in hybrids use virtually no oil at all, imported or not. Studies have shown that electric hybrids emit at least 67% less greenhouse gases than petrol cars.

Since the electric used to power plug-in hybrids is completely renewable, the difference in greenhouse gas emissions may be even greater than the study determined.

There you have it - the main differences between plug-in hybrids and regular hybrid cars. It could make a big difference, but you would be surprised at how little it actually matters at the moment, but tht's only because plug-in hybrids are not being sold to consumers yet!

But this article should make you excited about the wonderful plug-in hybrid car, which will be featuring soon on a forecourt near you.

And it's going to be a spectacular debut too - people already like regular hybrid cars, but they haven't seen anything until they see the new plug-in hybrid cars.

However, for now, maybe we should just be satisfied with what we already have, because who knows? Before plug-in hybrid cars come out onto the forecourts, something even better might be introduced onto the market.