Fuel Cells in Hybrid Cars
Hello and welcome back to FrostedPhysics! Not long ago, you have learnt what fuel cells are and how they work. This time, we will be telling you about hybrid cars and what fuel cells have got to do with them.

Just to recap, fuel cells are essentially batteries that can be refueled. They combine hydrogen and oxygen in a catalytic reaction that produces electricity, water, and heat. And because the only end products are electricity, water, and some heat, the reaction is pollution-free. All fuel cells are “environmentally perfect”. That’s why it can be used as an alternative source of energy that is still environmentally-friendly (:

i. Hybrid Cars

So, what are hybrid cars? Essentially, a hybrid car is an automobile with more than one power source, such as an electric motor and internal combustion engine or an electric motor with battery and fuel cells for energy storage. They are sometimes also called hybrid vehicles. Since a hybrid car goes fully or partly on alternative energy sources than fossil fuel, it is type of green vehicle :D

The normal gasoline car runs on gasoline engines. These cars gives us speed, easy refuel facility and long running between the refills. However, has anyone ever thought about the harm these cars cause to our environment?

The hybrid car gives the answer to these concerns. Hybrid cars have speed, and at the same time, use fuel efficiency and the discharge of less harmful substances to help save our environment. Hybrid cars have the following features:

• Gasoline engine - The hybrid car has a gasoline engine much like the one you will find on most cars. However, the engine on a hybrid is smaller and uses advanced technologies to reduce emissions and increase efficiency.

• Fuel tank - The fuel tank in a hybrid is the energy storage device for the gasoline engine. Gasoline has a much higher energy density than batteries do. For example, it takes about 1,000 pounds of batteries to store as much energy as 1 gallon (7 pounds) of gasoline.

• Electric motor - The electric motor on a hybrid car is very sophisticated. Advanced electronics allow it to act as a motor as well as a generator. For example, when it needs to, it can draw energy from the batteries to accelerate the car. But acting as a generator, it can slow the car down and return energy to the batteries.

• Generator - The generator is similar to an electric motor, but it acts only to produce electrical power.

• Batteries - The batteries in a hybrid car are the energy storage device for the electric motor. Unlike the gasoline in the fuel tank, which can only power the gasoline engine, the electric motor on a hybrid car can put energy into the batteries as well as draw energy from them.

• Transmission - The transmission on a hybrid car performs the same basic function as the transmission on a conventional car.



So, what do hybrid cars have anything to do with fuel cells? As you would have read, hybrid cars have more than one power source for energy storage. These power sources are sometimes hydrogen fuel cells.

Hydrogen fuel cells uses the power of hydrogen, a versatile energy carrier that can we used to power nearly every end-used energy need, to generate energy. Fuel cells convert the chemical energy in hydrogen to electricity, with pure water and potentially useful heat as the only byproducts. Hydrogen fuel cells are not only pollution-free, they can also have two to three times the efficiency of traditional combustion technologies.

NEXT UP: Pros and cons of fuel cells

Now that we know more about fuel cells and hybrid cars, just how well does it play its role as a renewable source of energy, and how efficient is it in helping to save the environment? In our next entry, we will tell you more about the advantages and disadvantages of fuel cells and this technology. Don’t go away!

This entry was compiled by all members of The Frostings

` the frostings iced Physics at 7:11 AM,

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