... achieve this zero-emission standard. With the advent of more advanced internal combustion engines, and hybrid technology, the same automakers that were convicted in the movie for killing the electric car have essentially achieved the original goal of a zero-emissions vehicle while still using the internal combustion engine. According to Brauer at Edmunds.com, the equivalent internal combustion engine cars are ... documentary also fails to address the poor range, and longevity of the batteries, nor the cost of producing the vehicle which was "horrifically expensive "(Niel). These factors a...

• Word Count: 1521
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... conventional tires. The result is that they cause about half the drag of regular tires. Use lightweight materials - Reducing the overall weight of a car is one easy way to increase the mileage.(Electric Cars) A lighter vehicle uses less energy each time you accelerate or drive up a hill. ... produces the current required to power the electric wheel motors. The lead-acid batteries provide power for acceleration and capture regenerative braking energy. This car represents a great step forward in hybrid-fuel technology, but these technological advances don't come cheap. One drawback to the...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... their roots stem from electric vehicles which were first developed back in 1835 by Professor Stratingh in Groningen, Netherlands. The first real hybrid car was produced in 1902 by Woods Phaeton. However, in 1915, the hybrid cars began losing popularity due to the development of traditional gasoline ... performance over traditional gasoline powered cars. There are two types of hybrid cars which both have their assets and drawbacks. The first type of hybrid car, known as a parallel hybrid, has a fuel tank, which supplies gasoline to the engine. It also contains a set of batteries that suppl...

• Word Count: 978
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... gain even better acceleration than using gasoline. The use of a smaller engine by hybrid cars saves space and significantly reduces the weight of the car allowing for better mileage while driving. While gasoline powered cars use twice the power and have twice the engine size of hybrid cars. People ... who drive gasoline powered cars can only gain good mileage from there cars by the manner which they drive their car. This is due to air drag and other technical issues that deal with cars but the thing is that hybrid cars already have this advantage due ... to the use of both batteries and...

• Word Count: 557
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... old technology was cheaply made and imperfect until today where hybrids are more dependable, and more advanced Honda has shown us that the hybrid car has become reliable. According to a release the two-motor hybrid systems generate fuel efficiency without compromising the performance of the cars. Honda ... important flexibility of driving on hybrid, gasoline, or plug-in battery power as conditions and needs warrant. Their priority is the make the car enjoyable for the driver and passengers and not something boring and uninteresting to drive. This is shown in one of their hybrid cars, the ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... respects, as a resource of energy, the battery was no match for the high-energy content, ease of handling, cheap and abundant supplies of petroleum motor fuel. Today, after the electric car was nearly forgotten, it might actually surpass all other means of transportation. As accessible petroleum deposits decline, automobile populations soar, cities are becoming polluted with combustion by-products, the internal ... 's societies, individual automobile ownership seems to be the system of choice. So, it becomes necessary for automobiles to become more environmentally friendly and more fuel-...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the energy of gasoline; this could result in a lower fuel consumption and better mileage. On the other hand, three main disadvantages of hydrogen as a car fuel are its low density, safety problems and, since the insulation is not perfect yet, also evaporating of hydrogen, that is typically about 1,7 percent ... heavy because of the metal included in the hydrogen tank. BMW and Mazda are demonstrating that it is anyway possible to run a hydrogen-powered car that is reliable and safe. BMW operates an experimental BMW 745hi ("hi- for hydrogen injection) vehicle that has a hybrid engine able ...

• Word Count: 2745
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Ethanol has numerous advantages that increase its potential as an alternative car fuel. Probably the most important advantage of ethanol is that is can be created through the fermentation of starch or sugars present in ... In the 90's Canada initiated a five-year $12 million proposal to encourage the production and use of ethanol as a fuel. The use of ethanol as a car fuel is still a developing process in Australia. The Australian public's confidence in ethanol has been blighted by the failure of the government to properly regulate its use, evident ... production and confidence grow, so too...

• Word Count: 1377
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... fuel-efficient to developing cars that do not run on traditional fuels. The Bush Administration announced last year "it will work with country's Big Three car companies to accelerate the development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Success in the admittedly ambitious endeavor could remove cars and trucks from the energy and environmental ... the United States. The pump will be able to be mounted on doors on the garage wall. Despite the initial increase in price of the car, the fuel cost will be 40 cents per liter compared to 70 cents per liter for gasoline. Fuel cell vehicles face the job...

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... . Since the rotary engine has fewer parts, it is relatively small. Due to its size, the rotary engine can fit lower and on a more central position on the chassis of a car, giving it greater handling and excellent balance. As well as it being smaller in size, it also weighs less than the reciprocating engine. This is good for automotive designers that ... well as space utility. Additionally, the small size of the engine allows it to be placed somewhere where it gives a car good balance- behind the front axle and almost on the ground. Altogether, the rotary design is perfect for a compact ...

• Word Count: 720
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... electric and hybrid cars. The human perception of electric cars is that they are impractical because they cannot go far or fast enough to fulfill their everyday commuting needs. A hybrid car, on the other hand, is a vehicle that powered by two or more sources. But like most concept cars, it is the public they have to convince that owning one of ... they continue to comply with the emission standards, Manufacturers must recall and fix (free of charge) those vehicles which do not comply. Emission warranty which is a program given you, as a car owner, certain rights covered by the emission...

• Word Count: 836
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of energy." Therefore, even though hydrogen has 2.8 times the power of gasoline, it needs four times the volume to be stored. "Special insulated tanks in the BMW's [Concept Hydrogen powered car] held 140 litres of hydrogen, enough to drive at least 300 kilometers. (that's a reasonable range, although a 95 litre tank of petrol would take the ... car twice as far.)" (Lehane 3) This happens to work out well for aircraft in which weight is more of an issue than size, but automobiles need to be somewhat compact and ... deprivation of sulfur, will produce the hydrogen at a rate of about thr...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is powered by the pressure made from the air and fuel mixture. In order to create this pressure, the engine only requires 10 milligrams of gasoline per one combustion stroke. A car uses a fuel mixture of 12:1 ratio of air and fuel under normal operations (Halderman Automotive 195). Sometimes the fuel/air mixture can be lean or rich. When the mixture is ... lean, the fuel ratio is considered lower than what is required. Rich mixtures have more fuel than the combustion process requires. With a rich fuel mixture, the car runs very smokily, or poorly. During any of these conditions, vehicle...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to air pollution. On a daily basis thousands of cars line the roads in Utah, each one doing its part to pollute and contaminate the air we breathe. In fact, driving a car is probably a person's single most polluting daily activity. On a national scale mobile sources are accountable for nearly 75% of carbon monoxide pollution. Statistics show that persons residing in the Weber ... ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... most important thing to remember is to always wear safety goggles and never horse around because someone could be severely hurt including yourself. An engine is the building block of a car. It is made up of several parts and each has their specific job. First we start with the crankshaft and the crankshafts job is to convert reciprocating motion to rotary ... ...

• Word Count: 511
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of controlled explosion produces various harmful emissions "most notably Hydrocarbons, Carbon monoxide, and Nitrogen Oxides. Hydrocarbons, which are toxic and carcinogenic, escape into the air during refueling and running a car engine and cause eye irritation, congestion, wheezing, shortness of breath, permanent lung damage, and acid rain. They also react with Nitrogen Oxides in sunlight to form ground level ozone. A colorless ... ...

• Word Count: 923
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate