Hybrid cars use dual technology of gas or diesel engine and an electric motor. The energy for most of these hybrid car is generated by the engine and stored in the batteries. And there lies a problem, the batteries that are commonly used in hybrid cars don't differ much from the standard car battery.

Although these hybrid car batteries are adequate for producing the energy required to run things such as lights, air conditioning, start motor, windows, etc., they are not powerful enough to drive the electric motor of the new hybrids.

The solution to this problem has been to use large amounts of batteries to increase the hybrid power. This short term fix needs a long term solution in order to make the hybrid electrics practical. New hybrid car battery technology is needed to reduce the size, weight and cost of the batteries.

The extra weight of the batteries is a problem because the engine has to pull that much more weight, which leads to increased fuel consumption. This defeats the purpose of having using electric motors to reduce fuel costs. Large batteries can be expensive and have a limited life. This requires a replacement and adds additional costs to maintain the vehicle.

Lithium batteries, the same batteries used in laptops and cameras, may be a solution. Lithium batteries provide a smaller, lighter alternative to energy storage unit more power and are more concentrated in shape. Experts believe that if developed to it's true potential, lithium batteries could provide enough electric power to make hybrid cars a practical, low cost, low emission driving.

The disadvantage to lithium batteries is making them big enough so they can store enough energy to power the hybrids without having to revert to gas when driving in city conditions. Another disadvantage to lithium is as their size increases they are subject to thermal runoff. This causes batteries to overheat and can actually cause a fire.

The problem with producing a large lithium battery to power hybrids is in the metal used to manufacture then, cobalt. The major auto manufacturers are researching problems. The best approach right now appears to be to replace cobalt with phosphate that are much safer.

With these advances in battery technology the hybrid cars of the future seem set to be even more efficient with greater power storage available at a lower cost. And with more reliable and smaller batteries being used, costs both in the way of retail prices and running costs look set to decrease, the saving in both fuel and emissions that have always been the goal of hybrid cars manufacturers, appear to be improving.

Learn more about hybrid - there here to stay!