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They're environmentally friendly, save you money on gasoline and are available from almost every major car manufacturer. What is not to love about hybrid cars? Unfortunately, quite a bit. Although a hybrid vehicle may offer you significant benefits, it carries with it hidden dangers that you should be aware of before making a final decision about your new vehicle purchase.
Hybrid Cars Present a Danger to Pedestrians
The electric motor on a hybrid vehicle is so quiet that it poses safety concerns for all pedestrians--especially the hearing impaired. In a 2008 study, researchers blindfolded test subjects and asked them to identify when they heard a vehicle approaching. While the test subjects were able to easily identity the approach of a gasoline-powered car from 40 feet away, they were not able to identify the sound of an approaching hybrid car until it was an average of 11 feet away. In a real life scenario, this would give an individual little more than two seconds to move out of the vehicles path. Unfortunately, when the researchers added common street noises to the test, many test subjects could not identify the approaching hybrid at all.
Electromagnetic Fields From Hybrid Motors
Hybrid cars conserve gasoline by using an electric, rather than gasoline-powered, motor when traveling at lower speeds. The current flowing to the cars electric engine creates electromagnetic fields. Electromagnetic fields are not easily contained, and the driver and passengers in a hybrid vehicle are exposed to these fields each time the car shifts into electric mode. Some consumers have reported adverse health effects, such as extreme fatigue or nausea, after operating their hybrid vehicles in electric mode. A 2008 New York Times report cites that independent testing revealed that hybrid vehicles emit dangerously high electromagnetic fields. A formal study published in the British Medical Journal in 2004 states a clear connection between electromagnetic fields and cancer.
Hybrid Batteries and Electrocution
The electric batteries within hybrid cars can deliver a powerful shock to anyone who fails to disconnect the battery properly prior to working on the vehicle. In addition, the current within a hybrid cars battery is Direct Current (DC) rather than Alternating Current (AC). DC poses a greater risk to consumers as DC can deliver a fatal shock at a much lower voltage than AC. All hybrids possess a disconnect switch to kill the batterys current before performing routine maintenance.
Many consumers aren't concerned about the electrocution potential of their hybrid cars battery since they have no intentions of performing their own vehicle maintenance. Some concerns have been raised, however, that after being involved in an accident, a hybrid cars battery could be exposed and its charge conducted to the driver or rescue workers through the twisted metal of the damaged vehicle.
Although hybrid cars present dangers to vehicle owners and the public that standard vehicles do not, they also provide consumers--and the environment--with benefits in the form of lower emissions and greater gas mileage. Hybrid manufacturers are continually updating new vehicle models to enhance safety features and make them more attractive to consumers.