Automotive

What You Need To Know About Your Hybrid’s Care

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With every passing year, it seems like we’re peeking further and further into the future of automobiles. Driverless cars might be the revolution we’re all looking forward to, but hybrids and electrics are the revolutions that are already here, growing more and more popular as time goes on. However, if you’re making the switch, then you need to make an adjustment, too. In particular, taking care of a hybrid car can be a lot different than what you’re used to. Here are a few points to keep in mind.

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Mastering the battery

The battery plays a much more important role in the life of the hybrid car and should be your top priority when it comes to maintenance. More so than a regular car’s battery, it needs a lot more care and attention when the weather grows colder. Before you start driving, make sure it has time to heat up or consider purchasing a heater so you’re not wasting energy idling it. You don’t want the battery to ever get completely drained, either, as this can reduce its lifespan. Make sure that you use sites like Plugshare to always know where the nearest charging station is and try to keep the battery between 40% and 70% at all times.

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Specialized care is essential

Hybrids and electric cars might be growing more common but that doesn’t mean that market of engineers and mechanics is adapting as quickly as it should. When you’re looking for a garage for your car, make sure that they have the specialist knowledge and services that your hybrid needs, like Certified Car Care. Again, the battery takes top priority, and partnering with a garage that’s able to provide battery repair and replacement, when necessary, should be your number one goal. The electronics of a hybrid tend to be more complex than with the average car. For tune-ups and fixing electronic errors, you need to make sure that you’re choosing a mechanic with the essential knowledge of these systems.

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Get used to a new maintenance schedule

As with any other car, you will be playing a role in the maintenance if you want it to have lifespan it’s supposed to. Changing the oil, transmission, and radiator fluids regularly is the same as with most traditional vehicles.  Coolant, on the other hand, needs to be replaced more regularly since both the battery and the engine produce more heat than other vehicles. On the plus side, since hybrids are able to run entirely on electrical power at times, your engine is going to sustain a lot less wear and tear, meaning that it will be cheaper to look after and won’t need replacement parts quite as often. Similarly, brake pads tend to wear out at a slower rate on a hybrid car.

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