Hybrid Cars are now very easy to come by these days and the prices have really dropped.Though they are not the final answer in saving our planet, they are a great step in the right direction.

However If you want to build your own Car using Solar Power - Green Energy Source

Most cars are powered by fossil fuel or better known as Gas. But there is so much volatility in the price of crude oil crude is not renewable source of energy.The countries that have all of these resources are ripping our money out of our pockets as we lean back and pump this junk into our cars and then into the air we breath.Don’t you think it is time that we do something about this before it is too late.If solar energy can be used to power a small community then it stands to reason that you could power a car.This sounds very difficult doesn’t it?

What does it take to make this work?The two most important are the solar array and the batteries.The solar array is very important as it collects the sun rays and converts it into electical energy. There are two types to choose from in the market namely the prefabricated type and the individual kind which you set up yourself.

You can get branded parts from places like Siemens and ASE Americas they sell terrestrial grade cells and the space grade cells. Terrestial grade is the lower end and it does produce a significant amount of power.

You must complete the wiring properly in order to make sure your vehicle keeps moving even if one of the panels stops working. The voltage of the solar array should match the system voltage of your motor, you should not to worry because it will still run.

The battery is what is used to store the energy after it is soaked up from the sun. So the batter is a very important factor in building a solar powered car. There are a few options in batteries and they are lead acid, lithium-ion or nickel-cadmium.The voltage of the engine determines how many you will have to buy. After you have purchased these two components, you must connect them to the motor. So you know how much juice is left in your batteries, you will also need to install instrumentation similar to the heads up display console on regular cars which tells you your speed, mileage and gas.

All of this seem to be such a task and if you are not into building things or just don’t have the time, why not just purchase a hybrid car until the big Auto Makers get on board. If you use a hhybrid car, it is much better than driving a 1976 Coupe Devill and there are cars that can travel many miles on only one gallon of gas. Take the Toyota Prius as an example. They have tested this vehicle on 2 gallons of gas and they traveled 100 miles and still did not run out of gas. Adam Carolla took on this challenge only a few weeks ago and was featured on SPEED television.

Well I guess my point here is that you can build your own solar powered car and drive around with a large solar panel on the top of your car or you can take advantage of the new technology being provided by the car industry and drive a hybrid car.

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I remember seeing a Honda Insight around town.  At 6′5 inches, it didn’t look like the car for me.  It looked tiny, cramped, like some kind of experimental vehicle aimed at capturing the hearts and minds of people who felt that go-carts were nice bit a bit too roomy.

Enter the 2010 Honda Insight - a completely retooled and revamped Hybrid.  It’s bigger than the first generation.  It has better lines, and looks less like a gadget, and more like an actual road-worthy vehicle.  Actually - it looks like a Prius.  To achieve the aerodynamics needed for the 40+ MPG rating, they had to style the aerodynamics in much the same way Toyota had to.

One nice thing about the new Insight, it’s more affordable than a Prius.  Base models start under $20,000, and top out around $24,000 (as opposed to my Prius, which - admittedly feature rich - ran me about about $28,000.)

Honda calls their Hybrid technology “IMA” - “Integrated Motor Assist.”  It behaves differently than the Prius “Synergy” Hybrid design.  With Honda’s IMA, the gasoline engine does most of the work, while a secondary engine - an electric engine - kicks in during times when additional power is needed.  Contrast this to the Prius, which uses its electric-only motor when starting from a dead stop, or when travelling at low speeds.

While the Insight does have an electric-only mode, this mode only becomes active while the vehicle is already in motion, and won’t travel as far as the Prius will in its electric-only mode.

The new Insight also includes an “Eco-Assist” - a computerized controller that helps adjust the car’s Hybrid behavior to your driving style.  That’s one problem I have noticed with my Prius - mileage results vary wildly, depending on how I drive.  I only get good gas mileage when I drive my Prius properly, and figuring out how to drive it properly is a process of trial and error.

I can see where Honda’s “Eco-assist” feedback would be handy in that case, to help drivers who want to be more environmentally-conscious adjust to their new Hybrid fuel-economy maximizing features.

One advantage of the Honda design - if you have battery problems, the car runs just fine in a gas-only mode.  The Prius, however, will leave you stuck.

Still - 40+ MPG is nothing to sneeze at.  The new Insight is slightly bigger and more efficient than a Fit.  Think of it as a more affordable slightly less efficient Prius.

Honda’s Insight page has a nice tour of some of its other features, I recommend taking a look here.

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If you demand it, companies will come up with it. This has never been more apparent than with hybrid autos, the companies answer to a consumer nation that has become more environmentally aware.

The day you knew hybrids were here to stay was the day car companies started announcing hybrid SUVs. Imagine, all the size and little of the guilt. That being said, there are some misconceptions about hybrids, so lets address the big two.

Buy any old hybrid and you will get a major tax credit. This is the first myth that arises around the hybrid. Can you get a tax credit? Yes, but you must comply with certain requirments issues by none other than the Internal Revenue Service.

If you want to claim a tax credit for buying a hybrid, you have to comply with a few regulations. First, you have to purchase a brand new hybrid. Second, the IRS must have ceritifed the car. Third, you can only claim the amount then available.

The funny thing about the tax benefit of purchasing a hybrid is it is a moving target. The IRS initially sets an upper limi and then has the option to lower that amount each quarter of the year after it analyzes the number of cars sold.

This lowering of tax credit amounts can be a real shock to someone that purchased a hybrid. As of the writing of this article, the famous Toyota Prius is about to lose all of its tax credit. One has to think that fact is going to hurt sales.

Many people are outraged by the phasing out of the tax credit available for hybrids, particularly the manufacturers. Talk about a selling point! The credit, however, was never meant to support an industry, only generate interest in it.

A second area of misunderstanding with the hybrid vehicle has to do with the batteries. Obviously, the car requires special batteries. There is a myth that they have to be replaced every 40,000 miles. This is alleged to be a big problem because they are expensive.

In truth, there is no requirement that hybrid batteries be changed every 40,000 miles or so. Most brands come with warranties of up to 100,000 miles. Although hybrids are fairly new, the batteries are reported to last well into the hundreds of thousands of miles.

Should you make your next vehicle a hybrid? If you want to cut your driving costs and help the environment, then the answer is definitely yes. Just make sure to buy it new and check with the IRS on your tax credit amount.

Want to see how you can get hybrid-like fuel economy out of your current vehicle? Click Here for my best tip on how to improve fuel economy for your current vehicle - hybrid or not!

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