The Hybrid challenge

It is now universally acknowledged that hybrids are the stop-gap solution for our growing energy crisis. They are not the magic mantra that will cure us of our petroleumrelated ailments. As the name suggests, they use two technologies to power them and in the case of automotive vehicles, it’s usually an electric motor and an internal combustion engine that, again, may be fuelled by petrol, diesel or bio-fuels.

Not only do hybrids utilise energy more efficiently, they also store some of the extra energy that is being generated by the combustion of fuel and use it at times when the internal combustion engine is not running at optimal capacity. 

This also means that while on a normal car, a higher capacity engine is needed, some of the hybrids make do with lower capacity engines as both the electric motor and the internal combustion engine power the car when acceleration is required. So, for example, a 1.8-litre engine powers the Civic in its normal guise but for the hybrid version, a 1.3-litre engine is used. There are different types of hybrids that use differing configurations.

The electric motor is also placed at different points on the drive train, sometimes between the engine and the gearbox and sometimes even before the engine.

The two most common ways that hybrids run are seen on the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. Honda calls its system an Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), which translates into an essentially engine-driven car with a much smaller battery pack than a full-blown electric vehicle.

This means that the motor assists the engine while accelerating, while the batteries are mainly charged during braking and during decelerating. In some other systems, the vehicle is essentially an electric one with the engine being used to charge the battery pack as and when required. In this configuration, the engine, whenever it is called into use, operates at its most efficient levels and its operation is not dependent on outside driving conditions.

 The most popular use of a system that is close to this concept is seen on the Toyota Prius, which runs on Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system. Whatever the system, the time to use hybrids is now, while we still have sufficient gas reserves to last a few decades. While Honda has already launched the Civic Hybrid in India, it’s more as a technology demonstrator than a car that people can actually buy and use. Mahindra has also developed a hybrid version of the Scorpio while Toyota is eager to launch the Prius. Abroad, hybrids sell for not more than 50 per cent the price of a regular car. In India, the only hybrid available now costs nearly 100 per cent more. This definitely has to change.

Yogendra Pratap is Editor, Auto Bild India