Word: motorization
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...That’s the Saucony outlet,” she cried over the thundering motor, “I shop there for all my running gear...
...first thing you notice when you drive one is how quiet it is. The engine goes blissfully silent every time you stop at an intersection. That's because the gas engine shuts off to allow the electric motor to take over. Gas engines are at their least efficient--and produce the most emissions--when idling, so that's when it makes the most sense to make the switch. The cars are chock-full of clever tricks like this. Every time you touch the brakes, for example, kinetic energy that would normally be lost in the braking system is recaptured...
Hybrids are surprisingly fun to drive. The electric motor on the Toyota Prius can keep the car cruising at speeds up to 42 m.p.h. without any help, although it needs power from the gas engine to accelerate to that speed. A panel on the dashboard displays average fuel efficiency, calculated on the fly, and tells you when the electric motor is being used to charge the batteries or to assist the gas engine. "You find yourself playing games to see how efficiently you can make your trip," says Eileen Hart, 42, a San Francisco marketing consultant who recently bought...
...hybrid Civic uses a smaller electric motor and a more powerful gas engine than the Prius, so it's always burning gas, except when it's braking or standing still. Even so, it gets 47 m.p.g. in the city and 51 m.p.g. on the freeway, approximately a 25% improvement over the gas-only version. Aside from a small hybrid logo on the trunk, it looks just like a regular Civic. About the only drawbacks are the higher sticker price ($19,550, roughly $2,500 more than a similarly equipped standard Civic) and slightly slower acceleration...
...part, claims that when its hybrid Escape SUV goes on sale next year, it will have all the zip of the regular Escape, even though it will run off a smaller four-cylinder engine. The extra horsepower is supposed to come from a state-of-the-art electric motor. The company is promising an impressive 40 m.p.g. in city driving, vs. the 23 m.p.g. the gas-only version gets today...