Hybrid electric vehicles

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) work through a combination of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor and a bank of batteries. This combination simply reduce the engine size and boost acceleration with an electric motor. Currently, most vehicles can be driven either with the engine, the electric motor solely, or both the engine and electric motor simultaneously providing power.

Depending on the degree of hybridisation HEVs can be broadly categorised into:

• MILD HEVS (functionality: start/stop + boost), e.g. Honda Civic
• FULL HEVs (functionality: start/stop + boost + pure electric drive), e.g. Toyota Prius

HEVs have several advantages over conventional vehicles:

• Regenerative braking capability helps minimize energy loss and recover the energy used to slow down or stop a vehicle.
• Engines can be sized to accommodate average load, not peak load, which reduces the engine’s weight.
• Fuel efficiency is greatly increased.
  
• Emissions are greatly decreased.
• Special lightweight materials are used to reduce the overall vehicle weight of HEVs.

Hybrid cars - http://www.hybridcars.com/

Some of the most recent additions to the expanding fleet of marketed Hybrid Vehicles are the Lexus RX 400 hybrid, the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Honda Accord Hybrid, and the Honda Civic. The Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra are available in limited quantities in several states, and are the first hybrid electric pickup trucks.