One thought your situation brings to me: The FE (fuel economy) your wife will get on her 10 mile, 3 light commute will depend a LOT on how willing she is to nurse the best mileage from the HAH. She won't get much benefit for the first few miles as the car warms up. The 3 decel/accel experiences will occur without much help from the battery (the HAH does not rely on the battery as much as it might oughta) and will be opportunities to kill the FE. In the miles inbetween she can benefit from running in 3-cyl mode, which is great (I can get 44 mpg on a flat straightaway). If she keeps the tach under 2000 on the accel, she will benefit. But if she hurries from the stops, I predict her FE won't be much better than a non-hybrid. Still, it probably will be somewhat better, and it's an awful nice car. I love mine.