Gasoline Prices And Hybrid Cars

The appeal and popularity of various hybrid cars have grown especially with the concerns about high gasoline prices as well as a worsening air pollution. Here are some bits of useful information that would help you learn more about hybrid cars and how they may help you save on gas and be somehow protected from worries about rising gasoline prices.

A hybrid vehicle is a type of car that makes use of at least two different fuel sources to make it work. Both fuel sources usually are being used together in some instances to help propel the vehicle more efficiently. There are several different combinations possible for hybrid cars, but the most common hybrid car so far is the gas-electric hybrid. The gas-electric hybrid car, also known as the hybrid electric vehicle or HEV, is known to make use of a gasoline internal combustion engine or ICE and a separate electric motor to help power it. While the ICE makes use of gasoline to make it run, an electric battery is used to store the electrical energy that powers the hybrid car's electric motor. The HEV usually has a gasoline engine that is smaller than a conventional one used in standard gasoline powered cars. Use of more advanced technology makes this possible and allows the HEV have better running efficiency as well as substantially reduced pollutant emissions.

Aside from the gasoline engine, the hybrid electric car also has a special electric motor built in that not only helps provide added power to the car but also acts as a generator when not being used. The electric motor can act as a generator in situations where it is not being used to help charge the battery for added efficiency. In a common HEV set up, the car uses its electric motor when being propelled at very low speeds. The gasoline engine acts as a secondary power source when the HEV requires much needed power as in the case of climbing up an incline. The gasoline engine also has the ability to compensate the electric motor with power whenever the car needs it in order to go faster. The gas and the electric motor can also work in combo at certain instances if needed.

Because the hybrid electric car makes use of both an electric motor as well as a gasoline motor, a substantial improvement in car mileage is somehow achieved. A hybrid electric vehicle or HEV can run longer distances using the same amount of fuel as compared to a conventional gasoline powered car. Whenever the electric motor is needed, gasoline use is avoided. This results in fewer gas used when running the same distance as a traditional gasoline powered vehicle.

And because the hybrid electric car has a smaller gasoline engine, the hybrid car can also runs more efficiently because of lesser engine weight as compared to the conventional car. The working parts of the hybrid car engine also are smaller and require less energy to move. This efficiency makes the hybrid electric car quite a great option for people concerned with rising gasoline prices. Using the hybrid car can help drivers save a substantial amount of gas when traveling. Not only that, using the hybrid car can also help in reducing pollutant emissions by using less gas while traveling.

Hydrogen Car: The Answer To High Gasoline Prices?

The recent rise in gasoline prices have given people more reason to look for alternative means of transportation. The rising cost of using gas may have motivated a lot of people to clamor for an alternative form of transportation that would help usher in an age where humans no longer have to depend a lot on a so-called Oil Economy. And with the move to look for alternative sources of transportation, many researchers have begun looking into other forms of alternative fuels in order to run future vehicles. One of the most attractive and in fact the most appealing concept provided is the use of hydrogen to run cars. It would only be time before hydrogen cars would be used as the primary transport in the streets. Btu what exactly is it?

A hydrogen car is a relatively new type of transport vehicle that uses hydrogen as its primary on-board fuel. The hydrogen car is different from conventional vehicles in that it uses a different type of engine to make the vehicle move. There are two ways that this can be made possible. There is one type of hydrogen car can be powered by the burning of hydrogen fuel, much like what happens with a gasoline engine. The hydrogen engine is actually a modified version of the traditional gasoline internal combustion engine. The process used in running both may generally be the same- the force of burning hydrogen provides the explosive power that makes the engine produce mechanical power to make the car move.

A noticeable benefit that a hydrogen powered vehicle provides is that it makes use of a cleaner fuel source for power. This means that using hydrogen as fuel allows lesser polluting substances and chemicals being emitted into the atmosphere. In fact, the hydrogen car concept has been realized because researchers have been looking for a cleaner alternative fuel to be used in the future to replace crude oil. And apparently, hydrogen fits the bill quite nicely. Another type of hydrogen car being develop today makes use of the hydrogen fuel cell for power instead of a specialized internal combustion engine. In this set-up, the hydrogen is used to provide and generate electrical power that can be used to run the car’s electric motor. This way emissions are totally avoided unlike a car using an internal combustion engine (ICE) running on hydrogen.

Although the use of hydrogen fuel cells is being eyed to have the best potential to power hydrogen cars of the future, the plan may still face certain obstacles. One, hydrogen fuel cells are too expensive to produce using current technology. Not only that, hydrogen fuel cells also tend to be very fragile and sensitive to vibrations and sudden movements. Engineers today are still trying to come up with a design and develop a type of hydrogen fuel cell that can be strong enough to withstand the vibrations frequent bumps that normally comes with traveling by car. And at the same time, there would be a need for a better and more affordable technology to build the hydrogen fuel cells to make them more affordable to consumers.

But despite the challenges still posed on the development of the hydrogen car, its future still remains very bright. What especially makes hydrogen cars so attractive is that hydrogen is a renewable energy resource. This is unlike fossil fuels which will run out sooner or later and may cause even more serious rise in gasoline prices. The hydrogen car proves to be a more logical alternative to a world looking for a means to move away from too much dependence on fossil fuel.

Tips to Survive High Gasoline Prices

Gasoline prices have seen its highs just recently. It seems for a moment that there would be no let up for the recent experience of rising of gas prices. It is a good thing that the price of crude oil might have gone down a bit. But it seems that this might just be for a little moment.

There would be no guarantee that the recent rise in gas prices already had reached its plateau and on the way of going down. It would only be some time before the crude oil prices may again be rising to record levels. Although the demand for oil in the world has gone down a bit, it does not mean that less and less people might need it. In fact, the demand for oil is still great and that this demand may once again bring a rise in crude oil and gas prices.

And with the recent rise in gas prices, car driving has become quite an expensive activity. Cars, for the most part, are a necessity for a great number of people. Only a few might be thinking of giving up driving because of the high gas prices. More people would instead be thinking of surviving the recent rise of gas prices. Surviving for some might be applying some means of saving up on the fuel used when driving. One way that this can be done effectively is by improving the car's mileage. Apart from buying a new car with better mileage, it can also be possible to improve the mileage of your current car. Here are some tips that might help you out.

A car's mileage can be substantially improved by simply becoming more efficient at car driving. Efficient car driving is developing careful but effective driving skills. Avoiding aggressive driving may be one. Driving aggressively is handling or driving the car with sudden accelerations and braking which can waste a substantial amount of fuel. You can waste from 5 to 33 percent of fuel of your car. This waste can add up pretty much and can worsen with the rising gas prices. Surviving the rising gas prices can mean driving more carefully and avoiding sudden accelerations and stops. Driving this way can help improve gas mileage.

Another way to improve the car’s gas mileage is by getting rid of accumulated excess weight. Some cars can easily accumulate a lot of junk inside its trunk over time. Some people may just ignore them, but the excess weight can actually lessen the car's mileage. By simply making the car lighter by removing some unwanted weight, using less gas on each trip may be possible.

Carrying extra weight on the car means that it may require more power and energy to move. The extra energy needed means more fuel being used. Just by getting rid of the heavy junk or extra weight inside the car may be more than enough to help improve gas mileage.

Another way to maintain a car’s good mileage is to have it regularly checked. Cars may go through wear and tear every time it is being used. Over time, this could accumulate and affect the car’s mileage. One way of trying to prevent this is by following a car’s preventive maintenance schedule. Most cars follow a certain maintenance schedule that allows them to remain efficient over time by keeping it properly maintained. A well maintained car can still enjoy good mileage even after many years on the road. Regular maintenance checks will allow even an aging car to be properly tuned up can help it run with good mileage. That can greatly help car owners survive the rising gasoline prices along the way.

Fuel Economy Vs. Gasoline Prices

Rising gasoline prices has become a fact of life. The problem is that there is nothing that most people can really do about it except expect it. The reason for this is because of the total dependence of countries in fossil fuel to keep and maintain their industries.

For so long now, most countries have been dependent on fossil fuel such as gasoline and crude oil to provide the power for industries as well a majority of the transportation needs of the people. It is a fact that most cars running in today's streets have either gasoline or diesel as fuel. It has been the same situation for several decades now. This dependence on fossil fuel to move the gears of industry and the society makes crude oil exert quite an influence on the economy, lifestyle as well as the future of many countries.

The influence is far reaching. Fossil fuel accounts for a majority of the energy and power needs of countries all over the world. Without it, countries may suddenly fall into chaos. And such events may likely happen in the near future as crude oil supply gets scarce while the demand for it still grows. Fossil fuel such as crude oil is not a renewable resource. At some point in the future, it may run out.

The concern over crude oil someday running out in a world hungry for more and more energy has worried many world leaders as well as future planners. And for this reason, many are trying to preach better fuel economy through research and technology. Aside from looking for alternative sources of fuel to replace fossil fuel in the future, better fuel economy may seem to be the most effective idea to practice in today's world.

Better fuel economy simply means a better and more improved use of fuel resources to get the most out of it. If being practiced on a worldwide scale, it can help provide a number of benefits- both from a global and individual standpoint. Here are some of those main benefits.

For one better fuel economy translates to money saved. Better use of fuel can help save individuals money in terms of reduced fuel costs. Doing so would mean using more fuel efficient cars, better fuel variety as well as a handful of other factors.

Not only that, fuel economy can also help conserve the resources that the world may still have left. Since fossil fuels are non-renewable resources, it is important that the world learns how to use it more wisely to help avert a possible energy crisis in the future. With fossil fuel such as gasoline still a major and primary energy source for many countries learning to work together to improve general fuel economy can help fossil fuel supply last even a little longer.

Even fuel economy can help protect the environment. Use of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuels aside from other crude oil byproducts have resulted in pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. This has resulted in a polluted environment that may take decades to clean up. But with better fuel economy, these fuels can be burned and used more efficiently and in a way that lesser and lesser pollutants are made to escape into the atmosphere and harm the environment in general. This aside from fuel economy being the most logical option to deal with the high gasoline prices of today.

Electric Cars And Rising Gasoline Prices

Rising gasoline prices may just make other forms of alternative means of transportation become more attractive. One of the ways not to be affected by the rising prices of gas is to have an alternative means of travel. Of course, saving up on gasoline use may help in some way, but such actions may still leave one affected with the rising prices of gas. A better way would be trying to use a mode of transportation aside from one that makes use of fuel aside from gasoline. One such example is the use of an electric car.

An electric car is one type of an alternative vehicle. It makes use of electricity as its primary power source. Instead of an internal combustion engine, the electric car, also commonly called as an EV or electric vehicle, has an electric motor to make the vehicle move. It is an alternative fuel vehicle that does not use refined fossil oil for fuel.

Electric cars get electricity for power by means of electric battery packs built on board. One of the advantages of using electric vehicles or EV's is that they are environmentally friendly. Unlike fossil fuel that emits a number of pollutants into the air when being used, the use of electricity for power does not do so, except that the power plants that may produce them do. But with using electric cars, the emission of harmful pollutants may be reduced substantially. Less cars using fossils fuel and gasoline would help make this possible. And someday, when more electric power is sourced from nuclear, solar, wind and hydro-electric power plants, pollutant emissions will even be reduced more.

Performance-wise, electric cars offer smoother and noiseless operation that cars relying on gasoline. Electric cars provide stronger acceleration and the electric motor requires lesser maintenance than the internal combustion engines of cars using gasoline and other fossil fuels. By using electricity through batteries, energy conversion is more efficient. Electric motors makes use of 75 percent of the chemical energy converted into electricity to run the car. Internal combustion engines or ICE's only are able to make use about 20 percent of the energy stored in gasoline to power the vehicle.

If most think that the electric car is a recent invention, then they are mistaken. The electric vehicle is in fact one of the earliest vehicles known to exist. Small electric powered vehicles even predate the development of the diesel and gasoline engines. The earliest electric carriage was built between 1832 and 1839. The development of other electric cars also increased for some time during the 1860's along with the improvement of the storage battery. It was even the electric cars that held many of the speed and distance records during this time. But unfortunately, the advent of the internal combustion engines came during the early 1900's, which led to the decrease in the use of electric cars.

With the appearance of the more powerful and affordable diesel and gasoline powered cars starting in the early 1900's, the market for electric cars slowly disappeared. Although there were still electric cars being made, those that do exist were being produced for specialized applications. One of the most common use for the electric vehicle today may be found in the golf carts as a primary mode of compact transport in golf courses. But because of the rising gasoline prices as well as the worsening pollution, there has been an renewed demand for the less polluting alternative electric vehicles in recent years.

Factors That Affect Gasoline Prices

Gasoline prices seem to be one of the most looked after index in recent months. People seem to be wary of the rising gas prices and have become more concerned on how this will affect the other aspects of every day life. Of course, with such an essential necessity as gasoline, there would be many things that would in fact be affected in the worse sense.

As the sudden rise in gasoline prices have made people become more concerned, it would also be very important to know about the different factors that give rise to such increases in the first place. There are four main elements that affect the pricing of gasoline in the retail market, primary of which is the price of crude oil in the world market.

Crude oil is the initial raw material from where gasoline is refined and derived from. Crude oil, a majority of it, is sourced and supplied from Middle East countries. It is these countries that have control over the price of crude oil in the world market. Countries that get their crude oil supply from these oil producing countries are the most affected by the sudden increase in crude oil prices. Overall, crude oil pricing affects about 75 percent of the price tag for gasoline in the retail market.

Refining costs also can affect gasoline pricing. Different countries as well as areas have certain regulations when it comes to the gasoline products that they acquire fro the retailers. Some places require less polluting gasoline than others. Some have higher standards than others. This usually means that the refining process for gasoline may be different from those following less stringent standards. Although this may prove to be helpful in some sense, added refining requirements can also be considered as additional costs for gasoline. The costs are eventually passed on to the consumers in the guise of higher gasoline prices.

Aside from the price of crude oil and refining costs, distribution costs also account for a great deal of the retail price of gasoline in the market. Aside from shipping and overseas transport costs, distributing gasoline to the different gasoline stations in the area may also account for the retail price of the gasoline. Some areas may have some difficulties obtaining their gasoline supply due to distance as well as accessibility while some have it easy because of being in close proximity to major gas depots. It is through this that gas prices may also differ from one area to another. Distribution also affects the gasoline retail price.

Taxes on gasoline also may affect how the product may be priced on the retail market. Different countries follow different sets of taxation for crude oil as well as gasoline. There are national as well as local taxes to contend with when it comes to gasoline. Some places have lower taxes put on gasoline as compared to others. But these places have something in common in that these taxes affect gasoline prices a great deal. The higher the taxes placed on crude oils products and byproducts such as gasoline, the higher the price tag would be when it finally arrives in the retail market. Controlling the taxes put on gasoline may be a way to bring gasoline prices down to some extent. But they are not the only answer to an eventual reduction in gas prices

Factors That Affect Retail Gasoline Prices

There are various factors that affect retail gasoline prices. Rising costs in crude oil in the world market has quite an effect on the eventual price of gasoline. Crude oil price is usually determined by worldwide supply and demand.

Whenever there are supply disruptions of crude oil in the world market, it would greatly affect retail gasoline prices. If there is an event that slows down or a stop in production among crude oil producing countries, the lack of supply would send the crude oil price up. And as the demand greatly increases due to crude oil being an essential ingredient for various industries, the rise in prices will trickle down into gasoline with crude oil being its raw material.

Other things that might affect retail prices of gasoline include its availability and distance from supply. In areas where gasoline supply has to travel very long distances, there is a likelihood that prices for it may be higher than in areas in close proximity to the gasoline supply. From the refineries, gasoline has to go through a series of transport hubs before it finds its way into the retail stations.

There are usually ports to go through as well as miles and miles of inland pipelines where it eventually reaches a main depot. From this depot, the gasoline may then be transported to the different gas stations by means of distribution trucks. With the distribution process this complex, having the gasoline supply far away from a certain gas station may eventually affect how its retail price may be formulated.

Aside from distance from supply, retail prices of gasoline may also be affected by environmental programs and local regulations being followed in a certain area. There are certain areas, countries or states that require gasoline to be specially formulated to meet up with certain local standards. This is usually done in order to protect the environment.

Certain regulations require that refined gasoline be further reformulated in order to help reduce pollutants to be released into the air. This might require adding up certain chemicals in order to help reduce carbon monoxide emissions as well as other pollutants when gasoline is being burned. In order to meet up with certain regulations of certain states and countries, such processes must be additionally performed and therefore may add up into the retail cost of the reformulated gasoline.

Another big factor of retail gasoline prices being different from one area to another is because of competition. Whenever there are quite a number of retail gas stations to choose from in a certain area, the likelihood of gasoline prices being cheaper there is high. The primary reason is, of course competition. With many retail gas stations trying to share the local market with other retail stations, getting customers attracted is important. The most effective way to do this is by trying to offer cheaper gas prices than the competitor.

In an area having just a few gas retail stations available, the gasoline prices would tend to be higher. The reason for this is that the demand would still be a bit greater with only a few retail stations able to provide the supply. In some cases, the consumer may be made to choose- whether to buy cheaper gasoline to a retail station location many miles away or buy gas from a nearer station offering more expensive gasoline prices.