Natural Environment Blog

If you’re on the market for a hybrid car, chances are you’re interested in doing your bit for the environment. On that basis, I’ve listed the best hybrid cars from 2007, ranked by how economical they are as reported by fueleconomy.gov.  Generally, the more economical a hybrid is, the less greenhouse gas and air pollution it produces.

Here are the best hybrid cars, ranked by fuel economy:

1. Toyota Prius Hybrid (51 - 60 Miles Per Gallon)
2. Honda Civic Hybrid (49 - 51 Miles Per Gallon)
3. Nissan Altima Hybrid (39 - 42 Miles Per Gallon)
4. Toyota Camry Hybrid (39 - 40 Miles Per Gallon)
5. Honda Accord Hybrid (28 - 35 Miles Per Gallon)
6. Saturn Aura Hybrid (28 - 35 Miles Per Gallon)
7. Lexus GS 450h (25 - 28 Miles Per Gallon)

The Toyota Prius is widely recognized as being the best of the hybrid cars as far as low greenhouse gas emissions go. Having said that, everyone has different needs when buying a car and it’s greenhouse emissions is only one of many factors to consider. Of course, it would be nice if this factor is high on the list

There’s plenty of talk these days about the environmental benefits of using hybrid cars as well as how hybrid cars are becoming more, (ahem!) “accepted” in today’s society. Having said this, many people are still saying, “yeah, I know that hybrid cars are better for the environment and everything but, how do hybrid cars work?”.

Hybrid cars run on a combination of fuel and electricity. Therefore, hybrid cars have two engines: an electric engine and a conventional gasoline engine.

The electric engine is used when traveling at slow speeds (such as around the city) and the gasoline engine kicks in when driving at faster speeds (like out in the open road). This is fundamentally how hybrid cars work.

The electric engine is powered by rechargeable batteries. The batteries are automatically recharged, so you don’t need to manually recharge them yourself. Also, the gasoline engine in hybrid cars is usually very efficient at burning fuel, and they typically use technologies such as Variable Valve Timing Intelligence (VVT-i) etc.

Furthermore, both engines can operate in conjunction. For example, if you’re out on highway and put down your foot to pass another car, the electric motor will automatically be activated to assist in giving you an acceleration boost. Also, if the electric motor starts to run out of charge, the gasoline engine will automatically kick in to charge the batteries and run the electric motor.

Given many people spend hours each week stuck in traffic (as their car idles and burns through the gas), a hybrid car seems ideal. One of the problems with traditional electric cars is that they didn’t have enough power when it came to higher speeds and open road driving. This is where hybrid cars work really well. You get the best of both worlds - fuel savings when driving around the city, and full power when on the open road.

Hybrid cars are becoming more popular as people become more aware of the impact cars have on the natural environment.

A hybrid car is one that is powered by both gasoline and electricity. Because of this, a hybrid car will burn less fuel, which in turn makes it better for the environment.

There are plenty of hybrid cars being built nowadays so you might think that finding the best hybrid car would be a difficult task. But, there seems to be very wide consensus that the best hybrid car currently on the market is the Toyota Prius.

To back this up, according to the Australian government’s Green Vehicle Guide, the Toyota Prius has currently been rated the best green car (whether hybrid or not). This hybrid car was given a 5 star rating. The rating takes into account the car’s greenhouse emissions and air pollution.

The Toyota Prius scored the following ratings:

• Air Pollution Rating: 8.5
• Green House Rating: 8.5
• Overall Rating: 5 stars

This means that (as far as cars go) the Toyota Prius produces low levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and has a low contribution to air pollution. The 8.5 green house rating means that it emits 101 - 120 grams of green house gas per kilometer.

This compares to say, a car with a green house rating of 5 producing 241 - 260 grams per kilometer. And a car with a rating of 0.5 would emit 421 - 440 grams.

The Toyota Prius also uses only 4.4 liters per 100 kilometers - although this probably varies largely depending on whether you drive mostly in the city, or out on the open road. When driving the Toyota Prius at lower speeds (such as driving around the city), you’re only using the electric motor. The gas engine doesn’t kick in until you reach higher speeds (such as out on the open road). This obviously helps reduce the amount of fuel that you burn through.

So, that makes the Toyota Prius the best hybrid car. Well, it’s the best hybrid car if you’re talking about reduced air pollution and green house gases. I suppose everyone has their own idea about what makes the best car