Hybrid vs. Not
4 Answers
Hybrid cars get power from two sources - usually a gasoline engine and an electric motor, but sometimes an electric motor and a battery or fuel cells. Gas/electric hybrids generally run on electric power only at those times when they need less overall power, including standing at stop lights and cruising at low speeds. The gas engine kicks in when you need rapid acceleration and higher speeds. That's a complete oversimplification, of course, but you can find lots more info - on hybrid cars in general as well as the particulars of the increasing number of hybrid models available - via a Google search, on Wikipedia, etc.
As an owner of an Honda Civic Hybrid, I cannot say enough about it other than to say it is an outstanding vehicle. From a hight of 56 mpg to an average around town and mixed highway driving of around 44 mpg, it just is an unbelievable car. Acceleration, there is no lack of it, additional horsepower to get up and go when passing, plenty of that, to the sound of just the A/c running at the stop sign when the car is shut off running on electric at a stop light. I can't tell you how pleased we are with our 2008 Civic Hybrid 4 door vehicle. It is more vehicle than we ever dreamed of and we are constantly being asked at the pumps how we like it and what kind of mileage do we get. When they hear 56 mpg most chins drop then when I tell them one gets over $2000 back as a rebate on their federal income taxes that really brings up the converstation ... Honey that is what we need. This is a solid, engineered car from the folks at Honda. Great economical car, I purchased the additional warrany so have an 8 year, 80,000 mile warranty, while the batterys hold their own separate warranty which is a 10 year or 100,000 mile warranty. I am telling you, try all the rest of them, none of the compare with the overall roominess and comfort of the Honda 2008 Hybrid Civic. CIAO!
I was looking at the Civic Hybrid in the Consumer Reports just a couple days ago. It was rated quite nicely. How much do they cost, on average?