| Recession. Global warming. Greenhouse effect. These | | | | The environmental advantage of driving a hybrid is |
| words aren't new to any of us. We studied about all | | | | fairly obvious to most consumers. The question is, |
| of them in school. We knew that they were an | | | | how does its economic potential come into play? |
| abstract threat, somewhere in the back of our minds. | | | | Hybrid cars are more expensive than their gas |
| What we never expected was that one day that | | | | guzzling cousins, primarily because the technology is |
| "abstract threat" would become a major problem-or | | | | still fairly new and we as a society haven't yet found |
| that we would have to deal with it. That day is here, | | | | a way to make it more cost effective. The same |
| however, and many Americans are looking to hybrid | | | | principle applies to the conversion apparatuses |
| cars to provide the answer. | | | | available on the market capable of turning an ordinary |
| The Environmental Advantages of Driving Hybrid Cars | | | | engine into a hybrid. |
| Studies suggest that the massive amounts of | | | | But if this technology is so expensive, why are so |
| emissions given off by vehicles hitting the nation's | | | | many people buying in? |
| highways are the primary force behind the current | | | | Because they're seeing the fiscal benefits of hopping |
| environmental crisis. These emissions eat away at our | | | | behind the wheel of a hybrid. |
| ozone, leading to global warming and a very real | | | | First and foremost, hybrid cars enjoy much better |
| threat for citizens of countries all over the world. | | | | gas mileage than you're going to see with the |
| That threat might not come today. It might not be | | | | average car-especially when you start talking |
| tomorrow. But that "someday" isn't as far away as | | | | off-road vehicles. The Toyota Prius, the most energy |
| most of us would like to think. | | | | effective hybrid on today's market, averages 45-48 |
| Hybrid cars are taking care of this problem by | | | | miles to the gallon when it's out on the road. That's |
| combining energy sources to minimize emissions, the | | | | considerably more effective than the average |
| amount of fossil fuels used and, therefore, the | | | | vehicle, translating into major savings for today's |
| amount of damage we're doing to our environment | | | | driver. |
| every time we get behind the wheel of a car. There | | | | There are also the tax cuts currently available for |
| are many, many types of hybrids out there. The | | | | anyone who invests in a hybrid (led by President |
| average consumer is most familiar with the electric | | | | Obama himself, who's proposed replacing huge |
| hybrid, the blending of battery power and gasoline to | | | | quantities of government vehicles with hybrid cars in |
| give the car the power it needs. When an electric | | | | the coming year) and the potential savings to insure |
| hybrid accelerates it draws power from the batter | | | | these vehicles offered by most insurance companies. |
| rather than strictly running on gasoline combustion. | | | | Overall, the potential savings available through the |
| The result is the burning of less gasoline and, as a | | | | use of hybrids far outweighs the expense and is |
| result, fewer emissions. | | | | inspiring many of today's drivers to take the plunge. |
| The Economic Perks of Driving a Hybrid | | | | |