How green are hybrid cars?

Hybrid cars use batteries and electric motors to achieve zero emissions when running solely on battery power. They also have a conventional internal combustion engine, usually petrol driven, that can also propel the car or re-charge the batteries or both.

If the batteries are re-charged from an external power supply there is no point in having the petrol engine and energy is being wasted hauling it around. If the batteries are recharged by the in-built engine then energy is being wasted hauling the batteries around.

At best these vehicles only move pollution out of the most congested areas, either to the power station or to less congested roads. The basic laws of science dictate that they cannot be more energy efficient then either a straight internal combustion powered car of the same carrying capacity or a solely battery powered car of the same carrying capacity.

What do you think?