Are Hybrid Cars Really Beneficial To The Environment?
Have you ever been driving into town, completely surrounded by all different kinds of cars, and notice the car in front of you or beside you is a Hybrid? Have you ever wondered if these hybrids really benefit the environment like they say they do? You see all these commercials for these great new cars, and how beneficial they are supposed to be for our environment, but do people know how? Hybrids were built differently from others but not many people know if that’s a good or bad thing. Surprisingly, hybrid cars have many factors that are not exactly “green” to our environment .
Now, don’t get me wrong, the idea of a Hybrid car is an extremely great one.These past few years, you have been surrounded by “green” living. Obviously, there are cars almost anywhere and everywhere, so why not make them better for our environment? A big thing said about these Hybrids is they run off of electricity. That may be true, to a certain extent, but when the car accelerates to a certain speed, which is about 30 mph, the vehicle starts using regular gas just like another regular car. When you start the car, the engine comes on but so does the motor to help relieve some of the pressure for the engine. When the car reaches about 30 mph, and it starts running on gas, the motor and engine work together to build up energy to use for later, but is it really worth it? There are not many times when your going slow enough to let the electricity run the car, so it will mostly use regular gas. It makes you think if these cars are any different from conventional ones.
The battery of a Hybrid is made out of nickel, and a conventional car battery’s is made of lead. Both are not very helpful for the environment at all. It’s very controversial weather the new battery is really better for us, and our environment. Most batteries that are made of lead have always been pretty toxic, but nickel is very toxic too. Nickel seems to pollute a lot, and many people are fearful of when they end up in the landfills. This also means more mining for nickel. The area around the plant that smelts nickel is a wasteland for miles because of acid rain and air pollution.
One other unfortunate thing about these cars is the price. Since the car is supposed to be “green” related, you would think the hybrid would be cheaper than most conventional cars to save money, but it’s not. The economy has been struggling for the past few years now and with these being a little costly, it doesn't help the green effect at all. The reason why these cars cost what they do is mainly because of the complicated battery and the electric motor to operate. The maintenance tools for hybrids are not as common which means you will also have to pay even more for getting it fixed than you usually do.
Hybrid cars are very unique vehicles, but there are many things that are not exactly environmental about the car that should be to own up to it’s name. The car only uses its own electricity less than half the time while your driving it, and uses gas the rest. Also, the battery that is made out of nickel can be very harmful to the environment from the pollution it gives off. Last but not least the cost of these hybrids are pretty expensive, still remembering that the car is not completely electric, which means the cost of gas too. So to answer the question “Do Hybrids cars really benefit the environment?” Well, It’s hard to say, but with all these problems hidden behind these “green” cars, you just have to think twice about how “green” they really are.
