Automobile manufacturers have long been trying to find ways to reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil and improve vehicle designs to be less harmful to the environment. The result of this diligent work has been the creation of the hybrid car.

A Hybrid is a combination of a gasoline engine and an electric motor that share the control of the car depending on the speed in which you are driving. In addition to the Hybrid Car, the electric vehicle, otherwise known as a plug in vehicle since it requires the owner to plug it into a power source to recharge the car’s battery. Electric vehicles are gaining a lot of attention from consumers and energy experts alike because they are much cheaper to drive fuel wise, yet they still rely on oil and coal via a power plant.

Perhaps the easiest way to get an understanding for plug in vehicles is to compare them with the traditional gas engine cars. Overall plug-in vehicles look very much like their standard cousins. Without in depth knowledge, the casual viewer might easily miss that the plug in vehicle is unique.

Plug-in vehicles perform at a comparable level to standard models. A plug in vehicle owner isn’t likely to notice a major difference in things like acceleration or road handling features. Currently one electric car company has produced an EV sports car that can accelerate from 0 – 60 mph’s in only 4 seconds, the Tesla Roadster.

Things get different from here on out. As the name suggests, a plug-in vehicle operate primarily off the electricity generated from the added batteries. These vehicles plug int a standard 120-volt outlet. Many people with an electric car like to charge them at night in their garages or during the day inside a parking facility.

Depending on the size of the battery, it is typically possible to charge the battery with enough energy to operate the vehicle to run up to 60 miles. As you can see 60 miles doesn't take very long to drive, so thats where the hybrid plug-in comes in. The gas tank would never be touched as long as the battery still held a charge, but if you needed to drive farther then 60 miles the driver could turn the car back into a hybrid which would then use both gas and electric.

In other words, these vehicles run on little to no gas within the first 60 miles. This feature is what makes plug-in hybrid vehicles such an attraction to environmentally conscious consumers.

Another benefit of driving a plug-in hybrid vehicle or HEVs, as they are sometimes referred to, is the reduction of harmful emissions. So while electricity use does emit some byproduct, it is still a 50% reduction in damaging emissions compared to that of using just gas and oil.

The retail cost of plug-in vehicles is higher than that of a conventional car. The size of the battery is the key component in determining the cars price for manufacturers. For example, for a vehicle to be able to perform an additional 10 miles on the battery charge, the battery must be larger and therefore may cost the consumer $1000 more.

It is thought that as the concept of plug-in hybrid cars becomes more mainstream and widely accepted, the cost of batteries and plug in hybrid vehicles as a whole will go down. As does any product when it is mass produced.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles are thought to be the new wave of the future and may go a long way in reducing harmful automobile emissions and the world’s dependency on oil.

Considering that the plug in hybrid vehicle owner has little traditional fuel cost to pay for and absolutely little loss of convenience with a plug-in vehicle this new technology could be the answer many have been looking for. Especially to be used as a commuter car where most people only drive between 30 to 50 miles a day on average and could easily charge the vehicle at night for a cost near $.60 per gallon.

So the next time you go car shopping, be sure to check out the hybrids and plug-in hybrid cars, because their look will shock you.