Most cost-effective hybrids

Jeremy_R_Hoyt

Edmunds has done a study to determine which hybrids will allow you to recover the hybrid premium in fuel savings the fastest. Anything that will allow you to recover the cost within five years makes sense financially. Most interesting is that the Prius is a bad financial choice, taking 13.6 years to recover the price difference between it and a Corolla if you drive 15,000 miles per year.



When compared with small conventional non-hybrid cars, no hybrids are fost effective within five years unless you drive 25,000 per year, and even then the Prius fails against the Corolla, coming in at 8.2 years to break even.



You can read the results of the study at http://www...ticle.html



It looks like it will be some time before Hybrids make financial sense.

bscar

I never really bought into the hype surrounding hybrid, and the Prius is fugly looking. Since a lot of people lease, or trade in every few years, they will NEVER recover their loss. some celebrities drive them, so the sheeple follow and buy them as well.
<-- posted it before, but it's still interesting to see.

Docnick

A little while ago we had an extensive post on hybrids, since a lady was shopping for a new car and asked us the fundamental question of cost-effectiveness. Comparing a Honda Fit with a Prius, it would take me 22 years to make it cost effectve, not counting the new battery the Prius would likely need. Also, many Americans live in areas with cold winters; the fuel mileage penalty for a hybrid is severe in winter driving. We did conclude that a Prius would be an ideal taxi in Seattle, Portland, or any coastal city with a mild climate. The payback on taxi service at 100,000 miles a year of driving is great.

DARTMAN69

bscar:
I don't know how you found that video but it was great. I am still laughing!!! I also agree with your opinion on the styling of this car.
~Michael

bscar

Just search for Top Gear on Youttube. I posted a few videos of them trying to kill off an older Toyota Hilux diesel they bought just just $1000, they drowned it, set it on fire, set it on top of a 260ft building that was being imploded, it was bent up, but it still ran.

americar

new episode of top gear on now 8 pm on the BBC

DARTMAN69

Thanks americar!
~Michael

Craig58

Hopefully, these silly things will disappear before too many more folks are suckered into buying them. If you want a cost effective car, just buy the late model used econo-box of your choice.

americar

Most efficient hybrid. gasoline/peddle AKA Moped! (:

Kendahl

Unless they just forgot to mention it, Edmunds left out one more factor which works against hybrids. It is the "opportunity cost", that is, the money you could have earned by investing the difference in price between a hybrid and the equivalent conventional model.

Docnick

Consumer reports some time back did a life cycle cost comparison, in which they allowed for the "opportunity cost" and came to the same concluisons. Hybrids, at today's gas prices, make sense for only a few people, mostly doing a lot of city driving in a mild climate. However, Toyota has economists on their staff who forecast $4-$5/gallon gas, and they want to be a household word in hybrisds when that time comes. In poorer countries with high gas prices, the route to economy is; smaller engines, smaller cars, almost no automatics, few gas robbing options, such as A/C, diesel engines.