American Hybrid Cars

Background infoones that "look" American and have emblems on them
American hybrid cars got their start back in the '80s,like "Buick" or "Pontiac," etc. and what you'll see is a
when both Japan and the U.S. entered an industry thatJapanese engine, or at least an American engine
was just getting started. The name "hybrid" washeavily influenced by and incorporating Japanese
selected because they run on two different powertechnology.
sources--often at the same time. Contrast that with an...But that's o.k., because that's just smart marketing and
electric vehicle or a gasoline only vehicle, which run onbesides, nowadays at least 50% of the profits and
only one source.jobs for these autos are U.S.-based. And not only that,
Hybrid Cars, otherwise known as HEVs (Hybridnow Detroit is figuring out how to incorporate hybrid
Electric Vehicles) started becoming popular in the U.S.vehicle technology into what used to be gas-guzzling
simply because people wanted to save money whilebehemoths like Chevy Tahoes and such. Also into fast
doing their part to help fight global warming and to helpsports cars.
Americans get independent of foreign oil.Detroit is doing this with success because they know
American Hybrid Cars Are Notthat the large majority of Americans would rather
However, in the process, American hybrids becamehave a muscle car and spend a little more on gas than
Japanese-American hybrids. Because the low-qualityotherwise; hybrids will only become as popular in the
and low-technology that U.S. automakers wereU.S. as gas availability and price force them to be.
delivering, Japan had an open door to create what isAmericans are used to pushing on the accelerator and
now arguably a Japanese-owned industry.feeling and hearing POWER.
American auto buyers responded to the influx ofSome of today's "muscle car hybrids" have big
vehicles from Japan such as the Toyota Prius bygasoline engines--not the little anemic and much smaller
buying so many of these fuel efficient, high qualityhybrids. But they're highly optimized with variable valve
Japanese vehicles that would go 200,000 miles withouttiming and other high-tech gas engine technologies, in
a hiccup, that Detroit had no choice but play catch-up.addition to having the requisite electric motor too.
...And play catch-up they tried, but U.S. automakersMatter of fact, some have gas engines 200 hp and
were not very good at that either. But instead of tryingmore. Some Lexus hybrids have a total of over 350
to compete with the Japanese automakers' fanaticalhp, with 200 hp coming from the gasoline engine alone.
dedication to quality and innovative technology - a traitYet they're getting in the low 30's mpg on the highway
that Detroit NEVER had until recently - Americanand they accelerate faster than their big V-8
automakers instead did the smart thing and workedgasoline-only Lexus models!
WITH the Japan automakers. That's why today nearly...So how's THAT for hybrid vehicle acceleration! So no
every vehicle in the U.S. is a combination ("hybrid" iflonger do you have to settle for low power to enjoy
you will) of Japanese and American technologies:the benefits of owning a hybrid. (By the way, Lexus is
Look Under The Hood - Japanese TechnologyToyota - Japanese :-) Gotta love Japanese dedication
Just open the hood of nearly ANY U.S. car - I'm talkingto quality and amazing technology!