HYBRID AND ELECTRIC CARS

   More than half of the oil production in the world is used for transportation and it is a well-known fact that car exhausts contribute largely to global warming. This is because they pollute the air with CO2. Even more so, we are slowly but surely running out of oil. This is why lately all efforts are directed towards making of hybrid and electric cars. A hybrid car has two sources of power – an engine that runs on diesel or another type of gasoline and an electric battery. It depends on the manufacturer but also on the make and model of the car if the two motors work simultaneously to power the car. In some cases it can use only the electric battery. Usually the electric motor is sufficient to power the car if it is driven at a very slow speed (around 30 km/h for some models). The battery can be directly plugged in the electrical grid but it also recharges when the car stops. Hybrid cars are completely silent when running on electricity which can sometimes be seen as a disadvantage – they can become a threat to pedestrians and cyclists.

   An electric car is a car that uses the power from one or more electric motors which on their part receive their power from rechargeable batteries. Electric cars were built and produced as early as 1884 and there was a great number of them in the beginning of the 20th century along with cars powered by steam and gasoline. However, it was not until the late 2000’s that the point of interest shifted again towards the advantages of electric automobiles. The cost of fuel as well as concern of increasing air pollution have played an important role into tipping the scales in favour of electric-powered cars. Nowadays, almost all major car producing companies have an electric car model in their catalogues. Some of those cars have a hydrogen fuel cell. This means that the auto does not have a gasoline motor but a fuel cell that uses oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen to generate electricity. Other ones have batteries that recharge during driving, although those are generally small one-person cars. A very interesting vehicle is the Ventury Astrolab – it does not have an engine or a fuel cell; it is covered with solar panels that are able to absorb energy from the sun. The energy is then stored in batteries and the car can reach a top speed of 120km/h. But this is just a fraction of what Tesla Roadster can do. A sport car with an electric engine so powerful that it can reach a top speed of 200km/h, it can go from 0 to 100km/h in just 3,9 seconds! At the same time, another Tesla modification – Tesla S P85D is the first car ever to get a perfect score in ‘Consumer Reports’ magazine.

   It is more than obvious that hybrid and electric cars have their own disadvantages as well – price, the fact that they do not have a very big travelling range, there are not too many charging stations yet (apart from your own home, of course), batteries that need to be changed and disposed of. However, it is more than certain  – those types of automobiles are the future. We see them more often on the streets and if we add to that Formula E – the ‘electric’ equivalent of F1 or the World Solar Challenge – the racing championship for solar-powered cars – well, the future has already arrived!

GALLERY

WORLD SOLAR CHALLENGE

TESLA

SOLAR VEHICLES

ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING STATION

HYBRID CARS

FORMULA E

RECHARGING AN ELECTRIC CAR

ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING POINT

 

 

GLOSSARY

pedestrian – a person who is going on foot; who is walking

electrical grid – the network that delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers

rechargeable – capable of being charged repeatedly

fuel cell –  a device that generates electricity by a chemical reaction

hydrogen – the lightest chemical element, highly flammable gas

vehicle – something used to carry goods or passengers, means of transportation

 

GLOBAL WARMING

 

   Nowadays, our life is very different from what it used to be 200, 100 or even 50 years ago. All the achievements of modern society make people’s days much easier and give us plenty of choices and possibilities. However, they have a negative side as well. We produce too much carbon dioxide (CO2) which remains in the atmosphere, does not allow heat to escape and little by little warms up the Earth. The average temperature on the planet is rising and unfortunately, this leads to disastrous and sometimes even irreversible consequences.

  There are a lot of causes for the global warming. The main one is burning coal and oil as energy supplies. During this process carbon dioxide is emitted  and acts as a blanket, slowly raising the temperature on Earth. Another factor contributing to climate change is all the industries that we rely on today. Not only the factories but also all means of transportation – cars, trucks and planes – produce greenhouse gases like CO2. To make matters worse, we cut down entire forests because we need the trees to make paper of; and the land to build on. Bur trees can absorb CO2 from the air which can really help reducing the pollution.

   What are the global warming effects? Temperature of not only the air but also the oceans, rivers and lakes rises. This causes ice to melt, ocean levels to rise and at the same time, less fresh water to drink in some parts of the world. Another effect is the large number of natural disasters, occurring all over the planet – forest fires, hurricanes and heat waves. Also very disturbing is the fact that the natural habitat of a lot of species is altered or disappears completely. For example, animals have to migrate to another place because they can not find enough food, the polar bears and penguins can lose their habitat altogether, the coral reef and sea life change as well.

   So what can we do? It comes without saying that we need to find a way to reduce CO2 emissions produced by the industries, commercial farmers and cars. Fortunately, nowadays there are cars that use less gasoline or cars powered by hybrid or even electric engines! A very good source of energy is the sun. This is why the use of solar panels has become very common. There are a lot of little things we all can do – from taking shorter showers to save water, walking or riding a bike instead of driving, planting trees; to recycling or using recycled things – they can all add up to help us reduce global warming!!!

GALLERY

 

CHANGING HABITAT

ICE CAP MELTING

HURRICANE

FOREST FIRE

EARTHQUAKE

GLOSSARY

atmosphere – a mixture of gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen, that surrounds the Earth

CO2 – carbon dioxide, a gas without colour or smell, one of the components of the atmosphere of the Earth

irreversible – that can not be changed back; permanent

to emit – to send out, let out, discharge

industry – the process of making products by using machinery and factories

to absorb – to take in something, to use up

pollution – the process of making land, water, air dirty

habitat – the place where a plant or animal naturally lives or grows

to migrate – to move from one area to another at different times of the year

hybrid car – a car that uses two or even more different sources  of power