English Literature

Environmentally and Economically

    Equally alarming than another world war is global warming. It is one of the major problems that scientists and practitioners from the different branches of science and technology are working on. Since carbon dioxide is among the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, it may be implied that vehicles (cars) are major contributors to the crisis. Consequently, environmentally friendly card models were introduced by car manufacturers. The most accessible of these designs are the hybrid vehicles. Hybrid cars use an electric motor and an internal combustion engine to achieve greater fuel efficiency (Thomas). This technology is being used by car manufacturers to lessen the vehicles dependency on oil and fuel. The electric motor of the hybrid vehicle lessens its carbon emission. So if you will compare an ordinary internal combustion engine car with a hybrid vehicle, it is evidently clear that carbon emission is lessened by using the later thus, using hybrid vehicles seem economical and most importantly, environment friendly.

    Unfortunately, a careful scrutiny on hybrid vehicles will show that it is not the best alternative for conventional vehicles in addressing the issue of global warming. Its economical and environmental advantages over the ordinary vehicles are just a faade. Meaning, in the long run, hybrid vehicles have the same level of disadvantages as the ordinary internal combustion engine. Indeed, hybrid cars have lower carbon emission. But the batteries (lithium ion and nickel) that they use have moderate to high toxic pollution potential. Consequently, the environment is still not safe even with the advent of the usage of hybrid cards. The vehicles great potential to contribute on pollution is still existent.

    Economically speaking, hybrid cars are still not wise alternatives over the conventional cars. Batteries of hybrid cars degenerate faster compared to the ordinary ones being used by conventional vehicles. Thus, a hybrid car owner will need to constantly change a several thousand dollars worth of battery every 80,000 miles or less (Thomas). It is good that the government has tax incentives for hybrid car users but in the end, after computing all the costs and expenses spent on using the supposedly alternative car is still higher than the incentive (Bradford).

    Moving further, the performance of hybrid vehicles is not as good as the feat of the ordinary conventional combustion engine cars. Hybrids do not run as fast and as smooth as the conventional vehicles. As a matter of fact, there are existing complaints against car manufacturers because the hybrid cars that they produced do not reach the stated gas mileage.

    Hence, if car buyers and concerned citizens of the world will weigh the pros and cons of having a hybrid car as an alternative to the ordinary internal combustion engine cars, the later will be favored. The creation of the hybrid vehicles is not fraud. The intention in making them is good  and that is to help stop and prevent global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer. However, studies and analysis show that hybrids do not greatly differ from ordinary cars when it comes to pollution potential. Given the fact that hybrids do not really help save the users expenses on cars, it is safe to conclude that hybrid vehicles are not alternatives of conventional cars.