Hybrid cars were introduced by various automotive industries as a result of the need for more efficient and environmentally sound cars. Even though everyone has heard about hybrid cars, but there still exists confusion about how they operate and what are the components does it need to function properly.

Basically hybrid cars are operated by three main sources such as, a well performing battery, an electric motor and a gas engine. Each of the sources is very important for the performance of the car.  The main benefit of using hybrid cars is that, it proves to lower the harmful emission and better the gas mileage. A lot of difference in their function exists between full hybrid cars and a mild hybrid car.

Based on the gas mileage and its performance, the top 10 best hybrid cars are taken and reviewed in detail.

2010 Honda Insight EX

2010 Honda Insight EX is considered as the best hybrid car because it offers an excellent fuel economy and is more fun to drive. Honda Insight’s styling closely resembles the Toyota Prius which adds an extra X factor in your personality. It comes with the best voice-command system equipped with Bluetooth connectivity. The user rating for this 2010 Honda Insight EX is found to be”excellent”.

2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid

2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid offers a best mileage over 30 mpg and it provides an exceptional performance.  The Bluetooth system that comes with this Nissan Altima is found to be very basic and it doesn’t have iPod integration which is a setback but otherwise it includes safety features such as smart airbags, stability control antilock brakes and etc and the car rocks.

2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid

2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, the hybrid system present with the car gives it very low emission which is considered as an added advantage. It is equipped with voice command, phone and MP3 player integration. The audio system present with the car is found to be very basic yet it’s still very stylish.

2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid

Though it seems to be a heavy vehicle, Cadillac Escalade is found to provide good in fuel economy with its hybrid power train without compromising its performance. The navigation system integrated with the car provides the traffic reporting and blind-spot detection is included with its driving aids. With very basic audio sources no facility for iPod integration Cadillac Escalade still holds its place n the race of style and economy.

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Limited

Ford Escape comes with a best sync system and it provides an excellent fuel mileage. Sirius Travel Link offers the traffic data and other navigation options to the car. Highway driving is seems to be a difficult one with and is best suited for urban dwellers and not for freeway commuters because of its high speed.

2008 Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius offers an unbelievable fuel mileage and its emission rating is found to be very low without compromising its size. The shape of this car is mostly confused with other Priuses available at present.

2008 Lexus LS 600h

Hybrid system with the car offers a good fuel economy more than expected and its emission rating is also very low which gives a reputation for this 2008 Lexus LS 600h. Live traffic is handled by excellent navigation facility present with the car. Driving performance of the car is good and its stereo system seems to be wonderful.

2008 Lexus RX 400h

The user’s rating for Lexus RX 400h is “Good” and its smooth drive is delivered by its suspension. The car seems to be the best with its unbelievable fuel economy.  The navigation system present with the car is pretty good and it lacks recognizing live traffic and iPod integration is missing.

2007 Honda Civic Hybrid

Some of the users have experienced the following with Honda Civic hybrid and it includes excellent gas mileage, very comfortable to drive, quite, exceptional voice command and climate control and etc. Trunk space is limited which seems to be the disadvantage with this car. Automatic Shut-off’s feature of the gas engine seems to be very bad and it makes difficult for stop-and-go driving.

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

Though Chevrolet Malibu uses a mild hybrid train system, it is found to provide fuel savings ability to a great level. Look and feel of this Chevrolet Malibu seems to be good. It is designed in such a way that it attracts everyone and both the driver’s and passenger’s seat offers a great comfort zone.

One can get rebates of over £5,000 to buy some plug-in hybrid or fully electric car and that is being considered the heart of this incentive program.

Various auto companies Nissan, GM and Mitsubishi are quite happy with the announcement. Different Japanese automakers thinking to introduce battery electric cars in the coming years and similarly, General Motors is also planning to launch its Vauxhall Ampera during the next year.

Vehicles with full electronic functionality likes of Mitsubishi iMiEV and Ampera have been particularly targeted in this program. The program is not focused on the current low speed cars as of Indian-made G-Wiz.

Aside from offering subsidizes on electric vehicles, the UK government is trying make life somewhat easier and smooth for the drivers of electric vehicles and have put them in many different outlets of public charging.

Nearly £20m of this project will be spent to build out the infrastructure of charge points in the country. So, you need to expect a lot of electric cars on the British roads in the coming few years as well as new charging station for these vehicles to keep them running.

Considering the higher fuel prices and increasing rates of environmental pollution, most of automakers are leaving no stone unturned to produce some really fuel efficient vehicles that may serve as the best alternative to better fight when gas prices are on rise again.

Almost all big automakers like Honda, Nissan, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Lexus and GMC are introducing more and more energy efficient vehicles with every passing day and  doing really worthwhile to protect environment from pollution and save considerable amounts of energy resources.

Let’s find out some top available fuel-efficient and environmental-friendly vehicles that have earned quite good name in this connection.

1) The Toyota Prius

It’s quite well-known as the most fuel efficient and environmental friendly vehicle available these days. Toyota Prius, with its reasonable price range and stable handling, was the first electric hybrid car that was put on mass production. It has an impressive mileage of 44m miles per gallon.

2) Toyota Highlander hybrid

It was in 2006 when Toyota first released its Highlander hybrid as the first Sun-urban hybrid vehicle. It was not only a nice addition in Toyota’s fuel efficient vehicles, but also reckoned as the first hybrid that could carry 7 passengers.  The model took a new look and design in 2008 that has a totally different chassis with an advance synergy driving system.

3) The Toyota Camry hybrid model

Toyota also produced its Toyota Camry as a hybrid model, it comes under luxury line of autos and it has been one of the highest selling vehicles in the US for the past 10 years aside from Toyota Corolla.

4) Honda Accord hybrid

The new Honda Accord that was introduced in North America in 2008 was quite significant from three aspects aside from its comely styling and better functionality, and these aspects are: new variable cylinder management system, dual chambered airbags for driver as well as for passengers and an interface dial controller. Now its new hybrid model has all those fuel efficient features and specs that can be very handy to attain maximum fuel efficiency and boost the surrounding environment in a friendlier way.

5) The Honda Civic

The Honda Civic was quite efficient not only price-wise, but also in its fuel efficiency when it was first introduced in 1972, during the past few years, it has been becoming more and more fuel efficient with the passage of time. Its first hybrid version was introduced back in 2003, and it was a real pleasure to a large number of hybrid auto fans. It has been made a lot more fuel efficient in the past few years.

6) The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid

One of the most popular SUVs in the US markets these days is the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet is quite satisfied with its own production of hybrid engines and the company has also introduced a hybrid pickup truck in the recent years as well. They have introduced their own hybrid pickup as the Silverado.

7) GMC Yukon Hybrid

The Yukon Hybrid has an hybrid engine that is a lot more fuel efficient than the Silverado or Tahoe, and it seems quite amazingly efficient to protect surrounding environment and save considerable greenbacks that you have to spend on fuels.

Dodge Durango, Ford Escape Hybrid, Nissan Altima and Mercury Mariner are some other vehicles that have been gaining good grounds in their fuel efficiency and environmental-friendliness for quite some time.

As Hybrid is being hyped as the future of auto industry, so we can soon expect a lot more fuel efficient and eco-friendly vehicles in the coming days.

A four-cylinder 2.4L and a V6 3.0L are two engines that reveal about GM’s direct injection surge. These two engines are expected to debut Detroit auto show during next month under 2010 Chevrolet Equinox hood.

Before looking into General Motors’ swelling lineup of Direct Engines, it is better to analyze this technology.

In motors with direct-injected engines, the fuel is directly delivered into every cylinder where it evaporates first and cools the compressed air mixture of the fuel that helps it to be more tolerant of increased ratio of compression.

In regular engines, a lot of evaporation and injection take place in their intake runners. In other words, this process becomes the cause of less consumption of fuel, decreased emission and equal production of the power.

To boost performance, both these engines use changeable valve timing on the intake as well as exhaust cams. In the 2.4L four-cylinder can produce 182 horsepower at 6700rpm and it has an 11.4:1 high-compression ratio for maximum power. While, the bigger 3.0L V-6 produces 255-horsepower at 241-lb-ft.

These alternative energy vehicles use sources other than fuel, which may include battery power and electricity, bio fuels such as ethanol, bio diesel, ethanol and methane, fossil fuels such as propane, compressed air, and finally, water.

Battery-powered Electric Vehicles

One of the more common alternative power sources for cars and other vehicles is electricity. The first electrical car was manufactured in 1832. The use of electricity in running a vehicle had been highly considered for a time. This is because electricity-powered motors were smooth and silent, rather than loud and noisy, which was characteristic of gasoline-powered engines.

Soon, battery-fueled cars came into existence. After the battery-electric vehicles were created, the internal combustion cars had to deal with aggressive competition.  Internal combustion vehicles were considered to be the most popular and reliable during that point. The advantages of electric cars include the delivery of high torque at small revolutions and ease of transmission.

Some of the electric car models are the Venturi Fetish, Henney Kilowatt, and the 2007 Tesla Electric-powered roadster from Tesla Motors.

Power from Hydrogen Fuel Cells

For car manufacturers to be able to use hydrogen efficiently as a fuel, a very complex process needs to be adopted. Hydrogen can be derived from water or methane through a separation process. Afterwards, a compression process followed by transportation and storage, are needed for the hydrogen to be used effectively as vehicle fuel. This procedure aims to use hydrogen as a replacement for batteries in most battery-fueled electric cars.

Presently, the first car model commercially produced using hydrogen fuel cells for power is the Honda FXC Clarity. However, production for this car model currently remains small. It is also not meant to be sold but to be leased merely for a time.

The Honda FXC uses electricity from a fuel cell battery. This battery is in turn, powered by fuel from hydrogen. Thus, a battery is still necessary for the Honda Clarity to be able to store energy. Honda reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the production of this hydrogen-fueled car for commercial consumption.  However, this does not mean that the Honda Clarity will be sold for commercial use in the coming periods. Over the course of the next three years, the Honda Clarity will be available only for lease.

Compressed Air Driven Cars

A compressed-air car utilizes a compress-air powered motor. This type of alternative energy vehicle can use pure air or a hybrid mix of air and gasoline, air and diesel, or air and ethanol. In ordinary fuel-driven cars, fuel is combined with air so as to produce hot expanding gases through a burning process. However, with compressed-air cars, the expansion of compressed air is being utilized. An entire car tank filled with compressed air can already produce an impressive mileage of 200 kilometers.

A specific car model is slated for release in late 2008 or early 2009, which is the Air car, otherwise known as the Mini CAT. The design of this car is revolutionary, with a fiberglass body and computer-managed functionality. Since compressed air is used, there is no combustion produced, while the exhaust stays completely clean.

As for MDI or Motor Development International, the Air Pod is the compressed-air vehicle model for the company. The Air Pod is a 4-seat vehicle which measures 2 meters in length and weighs 220 kg. This vehicle is normally driven using a joystick.

For the Mini CAT and Air Pod, refueling is easy. Air compressors from special gas stations can be used to refuel these vehicles, with 1.5 Euros already capable of reaching 200 kilometers.  The Air Pod on the other hand reaches to 130 miles and features a 40 mph speed.

Water for Vehicle Power

Although water-powered cars are not yet sold for commercial use, one Japanese car manufacturer has introduced a vehicle in June of this year that runs solely on water. Genepax has produced a car that uses a generator to break down the components of H20, thus generating electrical power. According to the CEO of Genepax, as long as the tank is filled to the top with water, this vehicle will keep on running. As of date, however, this type of water-fueled car is not yet released commercially.

With the selection of alternative energy vehicles currently in development and production, it won’t be long before people start using alternative fuels for their vehicles, rather than simple gasoline or diesel.