Can hybrid engines create more power?

Hybrid car engine.
Hybrid engines may be closely associated with efficient driving, but it's easy to give your green car a power boost.
Victor Malafronte/Getty Images

Hybrid vehicles are virtually synonymous with eco-friendly driving, but that doesn't mean these fuel-efficient vehicles can't produce enough power to knock you square into the backseat if necessary.

Before we can talk about hybrid engine power, let's first explain how hybrid engines work. Hybrid engines combine two different sources of power to move the vehicle. The first source is the traditional internal combustion engine, which produces power by burning fuel, usually gasoline. The second source is usually an electric motor that gets its power from a battery pack within the vehicle. The engine and the electric motor work together to produce the power the vehicle needs to operate. However, the internal combustion engine in a hybrid car is typically much smaller than usual for efficiency and to accommodate the electric motor. This dichotomy raises a big question for green driving enthusiasts wanting to combine engine performance and fuel economy: How can a hybrid engine create more power?

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One way to boost hybrid power is to update the batteries. For instance, the battery pack used in the third-generation Toyota Prius is smaller and more efficient [source: Garrett] than those in previous versions of the car, which gives it a slightly higher power output [Source: Voelcker]. The second generation's battery pack was rated for 28 horsepower, compared to the third generation's 36 horsepower [source: Toyota]. Although it's only a slight power improvement over earlier generations, battery technology is moving towards lithium-ion batteries that can potentially produce even more power in the near future.

These new batteries have plenty of upside: Lithium-ion batteries can produce more power in the same amount of space, because lithium has a greater energy density than the nickel metal hydride batteries used in most hybrids -- and it weighs less as well. Due to these advantages, you may start to see lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid vehicles relatively soon.

In addition to installing more powerful batteries, the electric motors can increase their power by upping the voltage. The 2010 Prius increases its power from a 500-volt system in the previous version, to 650 volts in the redesigned model [Source: Toyota].

It's easy to see that an increase in electric motor power, combined with a powerful combustion engine, is just the recipe needed to create a hybrid that can rival traditional vehicles.

Go on to the next page to see how hybrids can attain serious horsepower output while managing to keep their fuel efficiency up.

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Hybrid Engine Horsepower Output

Hybrids don't have to be odd-looking and slow-moving gas-savers. Manufacturers are starting to produce fuel-efficient vehicles that are both eco-friendly and powerful. Fisker Automotive's Karma is a prime example: The Karma is a four-door plug-in sport sedan hybrid that can go from zero to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in less than 6 seconds and can still drive 50 miles (80 kilometers) on lithium-ion batteries before it needs to be recharged [source: Fisker Automotive]. At about $88,000, the car may not be in many consumers' price range, but it does offer sports car power in a hybrid vehicle.

Both Honda and Toyota, makers of the popular Insight and Prius, have sport hybrid vehicles on the horizon. Honda's CR-Z will be a sport hybrid with high torque output in a compact design [Source: Honda], while Toyota's FT-HS concept uses a 3.5-liter engine and an electric motor to produce 400 horsepower [Source: Toyota]. Toyota expects the hybrid sports car to go from zero to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in about 4 seconds -- more than enough speed to get consumers to start looking at hybrids in a new light.

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Infiniti is planning its own sports hybrid called the Essence. This concept car couples a twin-turbocharged 3.7-liter direct injection engine with a compact lithium-ion battery pack for a combined output of 592 horsepower [source: Infiniti]. Still in the concept stages, this hybrid sports car would definitely prove to consumers that a hybrid vehicle is capable of producing just as much power as a conventional vehicle.

So, hybrids have the potential to produce a lot of power -- more than traditional combustion engines in some cases -- but they still need the engineering improvements that the traditional engines already have in place to boost their power.

To find out more about eco-friendly driving and hybrid engine power output, click on the links on the next page.

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Lots More Information

Related HowStuffWorks Articles

  • Csere, Csaba. "Will Gasoline Direct Injection Finally Make it?" Car and Driver. June 2004. (Accessed May 10, 2009)http://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/c_d_staff/csaba_csere_the_steering_column/will_gasoline_direct_injection_finally_make_it_column
  • Fisker Automotive. "Karma." (Accessed May 9, 2009) http://karma.fiskerautomotive.com/pages/karma/features
  • Garrett, Jerry. "Hybrid Superstar Shines Brighter." New York Times. March 26, 2009. (Accessed May 10, 2009)http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/automobiles/autoreviews/29AUTO.html?_r=1
  • Honda.com. "CR-Z." (Accessed May 10, 2009)http://automobiles.honda.com/cr-z/
  • Infiniti. "Nissan News for Infiniti." March 3, 2009. (Accessed May 2, 2009) http://www.nissannews.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=FB1750F100287324B9D2A92DD85816E9?mid=1&id=671
  • Toyota.com. "FT-HS concept." (Accessed May 9, 2009) http://www.toyota.com/concept-vehicles/fths.html
  • Toyota.com. "2010 Prius Specifications." (Accessed May 9, 2009) http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/specs.html
  • Scuderi Group. "Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine Technology Gives Automakers New Internal Combustion Process." April 20, 2009. (May 11, 2009)http://www.scuderigroup.com/first-scuderi-engine-prototype-unveiled/
  • Voelcker, John. "30 Days of the 2010 Toyota Prius: Day 12, Battery Pack." AllAboutPrius.com. April 6, 2009. (May 10, 2009)http://www.allaboutprius.com/blog/1019835_30-days-of-the-2010-toyota-prius-day-12-battery-pack

 

 

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