Flex Fuel vs. Hybrid
When it comes to the flex fuel vs. Hybrid debate, consumers tend to be more than a little puzzled. If you are scratching your head over what kind of car to buy, here is the low down.
It seems as though every major car company on the planet has begun making some type of environmentally friendly, fuel friendly car lately. The question is: are these cars really any better than the gasoline burning sort? Well, that depends upon how you look at it. Though there are other types of cars out there, for the sake of this article we will delve into the flex fuel vs. hybrid discussion for a few moments.
To begin, let’s start with the lesser known of the two: flex fuel. These vehicles are not widely seen throughout the country as of yet. Though they exist, they are most commonly seen within the mid-west. No sure what flex-fuel is? Well, simply put, these cars can run on either gasoline or a fuel called E85 that largely consists of ethanol (usually corn). Since ethanol is largely corrosive, the cars that can take this type of fuel must be specially made. Ethanol does not contain as much energy as gasoline does, which is why these cars will start pumping gasoline when they detect that ethanol is being burned too much. Additionally, E85 is nearly impossible to find anywhere other than the mid-west, so those cars that are being marketed elsewhere will have to run on gasoline for now. Also, when this type of car runs solely on ethanol, fuel efficiency is actually decreased by 15 percent.
Contrastingly, the hybrid vehicle is able to run by combining electric with gasoline. The electric motors are generated by a gasoline run engine. Additionally, the batteries for these cars are charged using gas, which may not actually cut down on consumption. However, hybrid cars tend to increase fuel efficiency by up to 40 percent. Still, these cars are relatively expensive when compared to other cars. So, when it comes to the flex fuel vs. hybrid argument, which one is better?
While the hybrid tends to come out slightly ahead of the ethanol car, both are in their beginning stages of development. Presently, many car companies are working to better both systems, so it’s best now to wait until you purchase either type.
While both car types have their advantages, both have their disadvantages too. For now, the discussion revolving around flex fuel vs. hybrid cars is still quite heated, so sit tight until manufacturers figure out how to make these vehicles more efficient.