Contents
What Is a Hybrid Car?
How Hybrid Cars Work
Types of Hybrid Cars
How to Understand Automakers’ Gas Mileage Claims
Will a Hybrid Car Save You Money?
Environmental Benefits of Hybrids
How to Buy a Hybrid Car
The Hybrid Driving Experience
Hybrid Car Gasoline-Saving Tips
Hybrid Car Maintenance
The Future of Hybrid Cars
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Hybrid Car Maintenance
Maintaining a hybrid car is no more difficult, time-consuming, or expensive than maintaining a conventional car. In fact, most hybrid car maintenance is identical to that needed for conventional cars since it’s the gasoline engine that needs the most maintenance. Though the electric motor introduces some new maintenance requirements, it also reduces others.
Gasoline Engine Maintenance
All gasoline engines need to be checked and adjusted periodically to prevent problems and maintain efficiency. In particular, they need regular:
- Checking and changing of motor oil
- Checking and changing of other engine fluids (transmission fluid, brake fluid, coolant, and so on)
- Checking and replacing of belts and hoses
- Replacing of air and oil filters
Hybrid owners interested in performing their own basic engine maintenance should be able to do so on hybrid cars, just as they would on conventional cars. Hybrid owners who prefer to take their cars to a shop for engine maintenance won’t have to find a new mechanic—their regular mechanic should be able to handle engine maintenance tasks.
Electric Motor Maintenance
Though the electric components of modern hybrid cars are designed to need little maintenance, some hybrids may need the following care:
- The electric motor may have its own cooling system, similar to the cooling system for the gasoline engine. The coolant level and the hoses used in this system must be checked at least once a year.
- Some hybrid battery systems have heating and air conditioning systems that need filter changes.
These maintenance issues are relatively simple, and most mechanics should be able to handle them easily.
Electric Motor Safety Issues
Hybrid cars contain high-voltage orange wires that carry electricity from the batteries. Don’t attempt to work directly with these wires or with any part of the car to which the wires are connected. Leave this work for a mechanic who has experience repairing hybrid cars.
Reduced Maintenance Requirements in Hybrids
The electric motor reduces—or even eliminates—certain maintenance tasks that conventional cars require. In particular, these parts of a hybrid need less maintenance:
- Battery: The batteries in conventional cars benefit from being cleaned, and some may need to be refilled with purified water from time to time. Conventional car batteries are also notorious for dying without warning and having difficulty operating in extremely hot or cold weather. But hybrid car batteries are designed to last for the life of the car without replacement, manual recharging, or maintenance. The batteries also operate effectively in hot and cold temperature extremes.
- Engine: Wear and tear on a hybrid car’s gasoline engine is greatly reduced by the assistance of the electric motor, which makes engine breakdowns and repairs less common.
- Brakes: Since a hybrid’s brakes recapture energy from braking to recharge the batteries, hybrids don’t place as much friction against the brake discs. As a result, hybrid brakes don’t need to be replaced as often as brakes on conventional cars.
- Parts that hybrids don’t have: Finally, some of the parts that often need maintenance or repairs in conventional cars simply don’t exist in hybrids. These parts include:
- Starter: The electric motor acts as the starter in a hybrid, so owners don’t ever have to worry about replacing their starters.
- Belts: Hybrids have fewer belts than conventional cars, and some hybrids don’t have any at all—which means that hybrid owners have fewer belts to check and replace.
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