How Does a Hybrid Car Work and What are its Disadvantages and Advantages?

In the last two decades, new ideas have risen to the scene to develop the traditional Hybrid car engine that runs on fossil fuels (gasoline and diesel), perhaps the most prominent of which is electric cars. Although electric cars have not spread widely until today, this has not hindered the development of the same technology that produced hybrid cars. Or hybrid, so what does a hybrid or hybrid car mean and how does it work?

What are hybrid cars?

Hybrid cars are a relatively modern technology that is based on the use of two engines inside the car instead of one engine. The car uses a diesel or gasoline engine as the main engine responsible for acceleration, driving at high speeds, etc., with a small electric motor that runs on batteries to perform secondary tasks within the car.

The first actual appearance of hybrid cars was in 1898 by the German company Porsche, which manufactured a car based on an internal combustion engine that runs a generator that runs an electric motor that turns the wheels and moves the car as a result, but this design was never practical as it added additional steps without benefit, as it is easier Relying on the internal combustion engine to turn the wheels in the first place.

The idea of ​​a hybrid car or a hybrid engine is not considered a modern idea, as the automotive world has witnessed an ancient struggle between engines that rely on more than one type of energy, and the balance is still tipped in favor of internal combustion engines and fossil fuel-powered cars, which to this day still take the largest share of power. The vehicle market has a negligible share for electric cars and hybrid cars.

Toyota’s experience with the hybrid car with the Toyota Prius (1997)

Over the years, many ideas for building hybrid cars have appeared, but none of them saw the light and were sold on a large scale until the Japanese company Toyota (the second largest car manufacturer in the world) introduced its famous Prius in 1997 in Japan as the first hybrid car, of which more than 10,000 cars were sold. Later, Audi followed Toyota’s steps, and then many companies, such as Honda and Volkswagen, introduced hybrid cars that achieved limited but generally good success in Western markets, until sales of hybrid electric cars reached about 4% of the global car market between 2019 and 2020.

How do hybrid cars work?

Hybrid cars operate by relying on two engines, a high-capacity internal combustion engine, and a secondary electric motor, but these two engines do not work together, but rather take turns working according to the conditions of the car, and they work together at the same time only in certain cases.

Cases of using one engine in hybrid cars

In normal conditions, when driving on open roads and at high speeds, the hybrid car operates like any other car with an internal combustion engine. It relies on diesel or gasoline completely without the need for the electric motor, while the transition is made to using the electric motor alone at low speeds under 40 kilometers per hour.

Also in cases of driving in traffic, where the car is forced to stop frequently, which consumes a lot of fuel if relying on the internal combustion engine, so the hybrid car runs on the electric motor in traffic and frequent parking.

Cases of using both engines in hybrid cars

In cases of acceleration, starting the car, or even climbing difficult slopes, the car operates at its maximum capacity, operating both the electric motor and the internal combustion engine together, but for short periods, after which the electric motor is stopped, and when the electric motor stops working, part of the energy generated by it is used. The internal combustion engine is used to charge the car’s batteries so that they are ready to use the electric engine later. Most hybrid cars are not capable of traditional charging like electric cars.

The most important technologies in hybrid cars

Although hybrid cars are usually small cars with low power, they need to attract users by offering features, the most important of which is reduced fuel consumption. To achieve the best fuel economy, hybrid cars rely on several modern technologies:

Generating electricity through braking.

Regular cars use disc-shaped brakes that rely on friction to slow down the movement of the car’s wheels when stopped. This produces very high heat due to friction and a useless loss of the car’s kinetic energy. In contrast, modern hybrid cars use magnetic fields applied to the axis of rotation of the wheels. On the one hand, this helps to reduce the car’s speed as required, and to benefit from the electrical energy generated from the rotation of the axle within the magnetic field to recharge the car’s batteries.

Multiple stages of use of the electric motor

As we mentioned previously, hybrid cars rely on the internal combustion engine in normal driving conditions, but with the electric motor’s batteries being in a constant state of charge (and even more so during braking), the electric motor’s energy is put to many uses to save fuel. Distances Short trips at low speeds, for example, only use the electric motor. The electric motor is also used to increase the overall power of the car during acceleration, starting off, or climbing steep roads, as the car expends more energy without needing more fuel.

Automatic start and stop

Congestion is one of the most useless traffic situations. In cases of congestion, the driver is forced to wait for long times that may extend to hours, in cases of driving a very short distance and then stopping again, as the process is repeated many times and the engine is running throughout this period. Duration burns more fuel and releases more exhaust gases.

To avoid this loophole, hybrid cars rely on rapid start-up systems for the car, in which it is possible for the engine to stop working when stopping in traffic and then automatically return to operation when the accelerator pedal is pressed, so that the engine does not consume any fuel while waiting in traffic, and this is what makes these cars Much more fuel efficient than regular cars.