Understanding the Pros and Cons of Hybrid Cars

Many people use a hybrid car even not being aware for a while. For example, a mo-ped (a motorized bike with pedals) is a type of hybrid vehicle because it couples the power of a gasoline engine with the power generated by the rider through the pedals. In fact, hybrid vehicles are quite common these days. Yes, once you are through your debt bills (seek help from these top ten reviews for that), you can easily purchase a hybrid vehicle. A major section of locomotives that are seen pulling trains are diesel-electric hybrids. Metropolises like Seattle run diesel-electric buses which draw electric power from overhead electric lines which run on diesel while away from the wires. But if you have—especially if you are going to buy one, then this article is a must-read for you to choose between ‘to buy or not to buy’. We consider Toyota’s Prius for the analyses.

1. Pro: Makes you an efficient exploiter

Like a Jeep”s want to be driven rough off-road, and a Ferrari”s longing to be honored as a racing car, your hybrid has no demand other than being driven efficiently. Many hybrids like Toyota Prius, gives you a display that shows your current mileage along with the average miles per gallon. It also tells how much energy can be regained with the brakes.

Every other car provides you with an improved mileage when you accelerate and brake smoothly. Yet with a hybrid, you can really feel it, particularly when you accelerate bit by bit, because that”s when only the electric engine is utilized.

2. Con: Be a bit choosy

You may get gripped by the lucrative model of Honda Insight, but stay out of the primary seduction because it is not a proper hybrid but a “mild hybrid” only. Its fuel engine shuts down when the car takes a halt and it can”t be run on its electric engine alone. It doesn”t get the fuel efficiency ratings of the Prius, and you”ll be shocked to find out that its air conditioning systems don”t work the gasoline engine being turned off. That may be seemingly okay in a mild climate, but it”s not quite acceptable in Colorado. A mild hybrid may have more efficiency than a traditional car, but it would be injustice to compare it with a true hybrid car.

3. Pro: Single car with multi-engine power

Even a novice would recognize the difference between a single engine airplane and a multi-engine aircraft. The Prius is not a supercar, but, unlike a Ferrari, it comes with two sturdy engines rather than a single one. Its small gasoline engine is always promised with a backup from a responsibly powerful electric engine. Electric engines tend to generate all of their torque from 0 rpm (revolutions per minute), a feature that allows the Prius to actually shoot up a drastic speed from an absolute state of rest. It feels like a phoenix taking its flight and it’s really going to make you high.

Image Source: Pixabay

4. Con: Weak battery

The fact that most certainly will surprise you is that even a good hybrid like the Prius has a weak 12V battery like any other car along with the larger high power battery. This smaller battery is used for providing power to the accessories, and like most of the cars, the Prius needs a jump start whenever this battery is drained. Many Prius owners go for an aftermarket battery—though quite costly (around $180)—when the original one finally expires, as the aftermarket version is much more reliable and lasts much longer than the model that Toyota uses.

5. Pro: Low maintenance

One of the most advantageous things about a hybrid is that the gas engine is stops running whenever you are stopped or driving slowly. And just think about how many times you will get this happening when while driving at the core of your city. The result is that your engine takes less pressure and as a fact stays healthy and less exhausted. Just because of this reason, Toyota recommends oil changes every 5,000 miles, unlike Subaru which unlike Subaru which cuts the limit short to 3,000 miles.

Even its brakes last longer. Except when you have to brake suddenly, a hybrid can regenerate electricity with a regenerative brake rather than applying the standard brakes. As because you can drive around all day without even bothering about the conventional brakes, you can expect your brakes to be in much lesser need for servicing than a non-hybrid would ask for. When the Prius was used as taxis, it showed less of a need for maintenance than its non-hybrid brethren.

6. Con: Less capacity

Many of the aspirant buyers want a vehicle with larger capacity and third row seating, but unfortunately if you are one of them, there is only a single choice on the market at this point of time. Toyota manufactures their Highlander Hybrid SUV specialized with a third seat, but it is quite an unreasonably large vehicle with a comparatively poor mileage for a hybrid. But the good news is that Toyota has recently announced that they are coming forth with a more spacious version of the Prius, though they will not provide a third row of seating in the version they have planned to launch for the United States.

7. Pro: The main battery is strong enough

Whenever you have planned for a hybrid purchase, the ‘battery failing’ cases must have been one of the reasons for your turnoff. There goes a popular saying that scandalizes the reputation of the battery and speculates further, that a replacement for the ‘worthless’original will give your pocket another headache. Consumer Reports says that Toyota sells the replacement batteries for an amount no less than $2,300 to $2,600. Being pragmatic, if you are to replace a battery on a decade-old hybrid, you will have to pay about $500 for one from a junkyard, just like if any other major component you have to replace on an older car.

With that being said, Toyota’s hybrid batteries along with all other hybrid major components normally have a warranty of eight years or in other words 100,000 miles. In California, the warranty is however 150,000 miles. Moreover, there are a number of reports about the Prius being driven over 200,000 miles on the standard battery.