It should come as no surprise that the use of hybrid cars over gas-reliant vehicles is on the rise. A report from Statistic Brain indicates that an estimated 4,500,000 hybrid cars were sold worldwide in 2012 alone. As we’ll discuss below, there are many advantages to hybrid cars. They’re more environmentally-friendly by far than the alternative; and the fact is that they often end up saving their owners money in the long term. One of the main features that sets a hybrid car apart from the competition is that rather than running on fuel, it relies on a battery more than it relies on fuel. Batteries in hybrid cars are obviously far more powerful than almost any other kind of battery, but their principle is the same. That is to say, it’s important to know exactly how much power is left in your hybrid car on a regular basis. With that accomplished, you can act to keep your battery up to date. Hybrid car batteries do require a good bit of maintenance — but if you keep up with that maintenance, you have far less to worry about than you would with a fuel-operated car.
Hybrid Batteries Versus Fuel Operated Cars
First things first: why choose a hybrid over a traditional fuel operated vehicle in the first place? The reasons are varied. It’s estimated that a hybrid battery is 20-35% more fuel efficient than gas powered vehicles. How does that work? Consider batteries in hybrid cars a sort of extra power source. Hybrid vehicles do run off of a gasoline power source; an electric source, that is the battery, reduces the reliance on that gasoline emissions from the car. This results in you spending less money on gas, and your car doing less damage to the environment. It’s a dual benefit that has many different people turning to hybrid cars. Another advantage to batteries in hybrid cars is that they are in many ways more manageable than the problems that can come with a gasoline-powered car. One fact that always comes with batteries in hybrid cars, however, is the inevitable replacement. No single battery lasts forever, and batteries in hybrid cars are no exception to this rule.
The Hybrid Battery Replacement: How It Works
You probably aren’t used to replacing your car’s batteries. As a hybrid car battery is not going to last forever, though it does last a long time. Although few hybrid battery packs do outlast the car itself, most will last for six to 10 years after the initial purchase. This is a good span of time, especially compared to the cost of the battery. The average hybrid car battery costs about $3,000 too $4,000. This may at first seem kind of steep, but the fact is that when compared to the amount of money you’d spend on gas for gas powered car in the same amount of time a battery would last — it doesn’t compare. The hybrid is more efficient and cost-friendly by far. Furthermore, hybrid cars have a regenerative element; whenever you break on the gas, the energy is charged back to the battery, adding some extra power to its lifetime. Hybrid batteries have other advantages as well.
The Other Pros To Owning A Hybrid
You aren’t the only one who will appreciate your use of a hybrid. As hybrid are less associated with car accidents, your insurance company may reduce your rates based on your ownership of a hybrid. There are also tax incentives for owning a hybrid. Hybrid owners have been known to get up to $3,400 in taxes simply because they own a hybrid vehicle. This is because hybrids are not only more beneficial for the environment, but for the country at large.
It’s true that hybrid vehicles have their own specific needs. But the rewards you receive as a hybrid owner far outweigh whatever you put into the cars themselves.