Your article about the " Cost Savings of a Hybril " was very good but may have missed a couple items. I had a 2013 Lexus RX 450h which had the type of engine that required premium gas at a higher price than the regular gas used in the same model nonhybrid car.Also,the hybrid battery had only an eight year warranty that carried very high replacement cost. These two items would need to be added to the formula.–Chuck
This is the article:
The RX hybrid is one of the few hybrids that requires or recommends premium gas. Most use regular.
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There are a lot of places that can replace individual cells on Toyota hybrid batteries saving some of the costs of the battery. They can also refurbish the entire battery. So while the cost of the hybrid battery getting replaced is high, it’s not as high as it used to be
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Also, while it’s an eight year warranty, from what I understand they typically (not always) last much longer, especially with Toyotas.
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End of warranty does not mean end of life. I know 2 people with hybrids (Prius and Civic) that are over 10 years old and both still have the original hybrid battery.
As stated by others…most hybrids use regular. Hybrids are not for everyone. But in recent years with the cost of hybrids coming down the number of people who can benefit from a hybrid have increased drastically. Some vehicles the cost different of a regular and hybrid is less then $1,000. Lincoln hybrid vehicle cost is the same as their ICE engine cost. 10 years ago the cost difference between base model and hybrid was close to $10,000. The difference is now 1/10th of that.
The RX 450h was designed more for performance, bragging rights, and driving in the HOV lane, than economy or efficiency.