Internal combustion engine vehicles have long been the dominant engine type, and due to the engines popularity and over usage, the engine is damaging our environment by emitting tons of poisonous pollutants into the air we breathe causing many health problems. This alone has become a major issue in large cities, so much so, that individual states have recently started to take a stand on this unhealthy issue. Leading the roar for cleaner air is California. The state's Zero Emission Standard of 1993 implies that by January 1 of this year, 10% of California's vehicles will have zero emissions. That means electric cars only. Since then, other states such as Arizona, New York and Massachusetts have joined in on the cheers for clean air. It has become a health concern not only here in America, but in other countries as well. Since we entered the twenty-first century, every major car manufacturer has augmented time and money to be used on research and production of not only environmentally clean vehicles, but fuel-efficient models as well.
In the United States alone, 17 million barrels of oil are used each day. This diminishing fossil fuel will not last to quinch the world's need for oil not only for gasoline, but to heat their homes as well. If the Hybrid Electric Vehicles are designed well, these cars can equal or better the utility, comfort, performance, and safety we've come to expect, while saving us thousands of dollars at the gas pump (Union of Concerned Scientists 1). Currently, carbon emissions are at an all time high. Automobile manufacturers of the Toyota Prius designed the Constant Variable Transmission, which is a part of the Toyota Hybrid System (Van Batenburg 2). This transmission system help's control emissions by keeping the revs low and constant. This is one of the many fuel-efficient features of the Toyota Prius that gives it high miles per gallon of gasoline. This feature will save much more gasoline than the standard Internal Combustion Engine, which is costing American's million's of dollars to purchase foreign oil.
