Go Green And Buy A Hybrid

We are all concerned about the environment and doing our part to take care of it. Of all the purchases we make, the purchase that will have the greatest impact on the environment will be the car we decide to buy. Hybrid cars are an affordable and innovative way to help protect our environment and benefit from the increased fuel mileage.

Even a few short years ago consumers were leery of buying and driving a hybrid. Today that's all changed. Manufacturers like Toyota, Saturn, and Honda can't make enough of them.

What makes a hybrid a hybrid? Well, basically it's a vehicle that uses more than one method for power. In the case of nearly all hybrids on the road today that means it has an electric motor supplementing its gasoline powered counterpart which is still the main means of propulsion.

Most "full" hybrids come with a feature called regenerative braking. That means when you slow down that energy is used to charge the batteries.

Hybrids also help save gas by frequently using tires that are less roll resistant and that are narrower to help reduce drag and rolling friction that the vehicle would normally experience while moving.

The sales figures for hybrid vehicles have shown increased demand every year for the vehicles. Right now the demand for fuel efficient hybrids is far eclipsing the actual supply. Just try to buy yourself a Prius at your local dealership and notice how they're not going to budge on the price. You'll pay full sticker because if you don't, someone else will.

There are several hybrids currently available in North America. They include the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, and the Mercury Mariner. There are also Hybrid SUVs available - the Ford Escape, the Lexas 400H and the Toyota Highlander. Pretty much every manufacturer has at least one entry in this market.

The current king of hybrids lies with the Toyota Prius which has a population over 1 million strong.

Manufacturers are certainly scrambling to offer more hybrids to lineups and if you follow cars you know that 2010 is going to be a good year to be green.

While nobody can say for sure what will be powering our vehicles in 50 years, we can say with certainty that the hybrid is a definite part of our immediate future, and likely will remain a major player for quite some time.