Well, I've wrapped up my first year driving a 2005 Prius II (give or take a few days).

I've logged almost exactly 15,000 miles.
I have a running life time average mileage of 47.
I used 319 gallons of fuel in this first year,
which at an average of $2.20 per gallon cost me $702.

Had I kept my previous car, a 2003 MINI Cooper S,
I would have used 577 gallons of fuel (I averaged about 26 mpg),
which at a cost of $2.50 for premium would have cost me $1,442.

I saved $740, and I saved $300 on my federal tax return on
account of the deduction.

Overall, in my first year I already made up about 1/3 of the supposed excess cost of the hybrid technology, but much more important than that:
I managed to burn 258 fewer gallons of fuel.

I like hybrid technology!

Well... it's a nice comparison but not really a fair comparison. Maybe if you compared it to a Mini Cooper... instead of the S.

Why isn't it fair? If the Prius didn't exist, he'd still be driving the MCS.

Exactly.
It's apples and oranges, ok. The MINI uses premium, the Prius regular, and right there is a huge cost difference. For me the point is, I bought the Prius because I wanted to consume less gas, not because of any money savings.
It was either the MINI or the Prius, and the numbers above are the balance sheet at the end of the 1st year. I saved gas - my goal, and I saved money.

In first 4 years of Prius, I consumed 346 fewer gallons gasoline per year, compared to previous vehicle.

DAS

I guess... but one could argue that they went from driving a tractor trailer to a S2000... and now they save $10K a year on fuel.

I compare my mileage and costs to a Ford F150, that I got about 15 mpg on. Why? Because that is what I would be driving if I had not purchased the HCH.

While the comparison is not apples to apples, it is a real world, real circumstances comparison. I would have driven that truck for two more years. In May, on the 2 year anniversary of purchasing my HCH, it will, quite near, have paid for itself. Not including the work that needed to be done on the truck.

-Charlie...

Right, I'm not saying it's not real world... but substitute any good econo car in the place of a hybrid compared to what you were driving (F150) and you will see that the saving exist there too. In fact the difference between a good econo car and a hybrid will show that it takes a few years to really get the savings.

So that's all I'm pointing out.

Thanks for the thread MGBGT.
My hybrid premium was erased within the first year considering the tax credit and fuel savings.

This is compared to the savings if I would have bought a similarly loaded Civic EX.

It replaced a 10 year old 4 door mid size sedan that did 16-17MPG.
In that case my savings have been no less than fantastic.
I used to pump 15-16 gallons of fuel 2.5x a week.
Now I fill 13-14 gallons 1x a week.
Outstanding.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Congrats on reducing your fuel consumption!

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