USAToday: Hybrids recoup higher cost in less time

[El Pinko]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/environment/2008-05-11-hybrids-gas-prices_N.htm?csp=1


Hybrids recoup higher cost in less time


By Sharon Silke Carty, USA TODAY
Rising fuel prices and competition among a proliferation of gasoline-electric hybrids have sliced the payback period for hybrids to two or three years in some cases, instead of five years or more that made hybrids harder to justify at lower fuel prices.

At the same time, increasing interest in hybrids is driving their prices up and eroding their fuel cost-saving benefits.

An analysis for USA TODAY by auto-price consultant Edmunds.com shows that the difference between a Toyota (TM) Camry hybrid and a similarly equipped gasoline Camry was $889 Friday, up from $850 a week ago. Assuming 15,000 miles a year, Edmunds figures just 1.7 years for the Camry hybrid's fuel savings to offset the car's higher price — slightly longer than 1.6 years when the price difference was less a week earlier.

The government rates the Camry hybrid at 34 miles per gallon and the four-cylinder gasoline Camry at 25 mpg in combined city-highway driving.

[Captain Angry]

1. Love it.

More hybrids.

Soon Plug-In Electrics / Hybrids.

Later full electrics.

Bye bye gasoline.

In parallel, better solar, wind, biomass.

Someday non polluting electricity charging non polluting cars.

Love it.

I love my hybrid.

[cornermouse]

2. I love mine too.

Probably won't give it up unless or until I can buy one that is completely non-gasoline.

[and-justice-for-all]

3. I will not buy an new vehicle unless it is TOTAL ELECTRIC...

I find these hybrids to be a nothing more then a slap in the face.

When you know damn good and well that EVs were fine when they arrived, only to be yanked out from under us, hybrids are a fraud.

[Fumesucker]

4. EVs were not "fine"..

The only EV1 I ever saw was dead on the side of the road.

An EV may be ok for some people's commuting, but they are as yet incapable of doing everything the vast majority of people need a car to do.. Lack of sufficient range is still a major handicap..

[and-justice-for-all]

7. EVs were better than fine, the probleml was they actually worked!

Hybrids are a fraud and a slap in the face.

[Fumesucker]

8. What do you do if the trip you need to make is longer than the range of your EV?

Just about everyone makes longer trips than the range of current EVs from time to time.

[TommyO]

9. Full hybrids work and get significantly better mileage than their gas cousins

They have better range than pure electric cars, a good thing when traveling from eastern Pennsylvania to Sandusky, OH, or Chicago. That's a drive that current, and even near-future electric cars can't do without frequent stops.

[crimsonblue]

5. this writer is an idiot...

"At the same time, increasing interest in hybrids is driving their prices up and eroding their fuel cost-saving benefits."

Umm... what? Even if the price of the car itself goes up, the cost saving due to a more fuel efficient car will be the same. Also, depending on your state, you can get a tax write off for driving a hybrid. It's not like fuel economy goes down with increasing price. Looks like someone forgot to take Econ 101 in college. :P Just gotta love how the media seems to always through in a little slap in the face when discussing something that isn't borderline Oil worship.

[jaksavage]

6. Gas should have cost $5.00 a gallon

10 years ago and we wouldn't be in this mess now.

[TommyO]

10. Or maybe Reagan shouldn't have gutted Carter's energy policies.

[Edgewater_Joe]

11. Glad I Got Mine Last Summer

I even went for a six-year plan on the presumption I would have it for 8 or so years.

It's looking like a good bet.

I'm thankful I could do it when I did.

[The Inquisitive]

12. glad we unloaded the Toyota 4runner 2 years ago

To put it simply I guess
Cost of own and operating a car annually in real terms=D(x,y,z...)+(M/MPG)(Pg)

D(x,y,z...)= depreciation function
M=Miles Driven
MPG=Miles per Gallon
Pg=Price of gasoline
M/MPG=Gasoline consumed

It's nice knowing how much we save in terms of gasoline expenses as a result of our decision. 4runner got about 20mpg on average, vs 50mpg on the prius.

[lectrobyte]

13. I thought they made sense when gas was $2 / gallon 4 years ago,

even more so now...