Drive by any car lot in the United States and ask to see the latest hybrid car models. Don't be stupefied if eight out of ten tell you that they can't seem to keep them on the lot-that they're just selling too fast! There is reasoning behind the hype: consumers believe in one (or all) of three things, that they're going to be getting a better deal once gas prices hit $2.50 a gallon, that they're not sacrificing performance and that they're helping the environment.
Let's first take a look at how these cars are put together. First, we have to understand the concept of "hybrid". A hybrid car might be defined as any vehicle that uses two or more sources of energy to propel itself. Seems simple enough. Hybrid machinery is all around us in the form of diesel-electric, such as city buses, and nuclear-electric, such as those used on many US submarines. So, the idea and the technology have been around awhile-it's just now that another energy scare like that of the 1970s, that we start becoming resourceful and a little ingenious. Hybrid power is on the up-rise (and in-demand) only because the two different types of propulsion possibilities (gasoline/diesel and electric) standing alone have proven an ineffective means to get both power and efficiency in one package. But, working together, there is promise.
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