Hybrid Car!
Hybrid-electric vehicles take advantage of the benefits of gasoline engines and electric motors and can be configured to obtain different objectives, such as improved fuel economy, increased power, or additional auxiliary power for electronic devices and power tools.
According to experts the advanced technologies typically used by hybrids are:
- Regenerative Braking: The electric motor applies a slight touch of resistance to the drive-train which assist the wheels to slow down. In order for the energy from the wheels to turns the motor –> functions as a generator –> converting energy normally wasted during coasting –> braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.
- Electric Motor Assist: The electric motor provides additional power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill climbing. This allows a smaller, more efficient engine to be used. In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.
- Automatic Start/Shutoff: Automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop and restarts it when the accelerator is pressed. This prevents wasted energy from idling.
Aerodynamic
Toyota, a car corporation, has been making use of this technology to help reduce car drag. In other words, they reduce air resistance, thus add the smoothness while driving; which automatically improve gas mileage. Since the car is slowing down, it uses less power which means it uses less gas. Less power means less gas being used. In order for Toyota to do this, they focused more on aerodynamic modeled cars. A car model that would be a good example to represent this technology by Toyota is the Prius.
Bibliography:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybridtech.shtml
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car2.htm
http://www.toyota.com/prius-plug-in/#!/panels3
