Would you believe that the history of the hybrid car reaches all the back to the 18th century when France had a steam powered motor carriage that only went 6mph. Then in the 19th century an Englishman made a car with an electric motor and a blacksmith from Vermont made an electric motor powdered carriage.
The 1800s ended with the production of hundreds of electric cars and a German by the name of Porsche manufactured a front wheel drive electric car and then later a hybrid that used internal combustion engine pared with an electric motor. This is probably the first hybrid car on record. This was the trend until Henry Ford created the first assembly line to manufacturer gas powered vehicles.
Surprisingly the US Congress began launching bills in the 1960s that stated that electric vehicles would help curb air pollution and this revamped the interest in the electric car. The tinkering back and forth over gas prices and issues with the early electric cars lead the industry through many ups and downs, but in 1997 Toyota put out the very first mass produced hybrid in Japan. It was the Toyota Prius, which didn't make it here to the US until 2000. And the rest is as they say history.
Benefits of the Hybrid Cars
Today we can not ignore the fact that emissions from our automobiles are in effect killing our planet. With even better hybrid cars available today it is a wonder as to why many people still struggle with the back and forth trying to out weigh the pros from the cons. Here are a few, just a few, of the advantages of having a hybrid car.
1. Hybrid car economy plan and simple, it saves you money. The hybrid car can save you 30 miles a gallon because of the combination of the cleaner electric motor working with the long range gasoline engine. The gasoline engine shuts off automatically whenever the car stops, which helps in cutting gasoline consumptions. Once you step on the accelerator the gas engine engages and powers the vehicle.
2. The environment hybrids emit lower toxic emissions as compared to your conventional car. This makes the car more environmentally friendly. Some people out there that still think that global warming is a scam and not something that we humans created. Well, it is real, and though most of us adults will not be around long enough to really see the damage that we have done, our children will. Help save the the planet so that there is an earth for them to enjoy. The Toyota Prius reduces tailpipe emissions by 50% compared to a conventional car.
3. In 2005 President Bush signed a bill of tax incentives for those with a hybrid car a huge tax break. The tax break varies depending on two factors, how fuel efficient the hybrid car is compared to a conventional 2002 car of the same weight class and how much gas the hybrid car can save in its lifetime compared to an equivalent conventional car.