I just did a quick analysis of what the true savings of our 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid actually measures.

We used to drive a 2003 Acura TL Type S. Granted a lot more room, weight and power.

It also needed Premium gas.

In the 6 weeks we've been driving the Civic, we've averaged almost 23 MPG more than the Acura. With the almost 1,600 miles and extra $0.30 per gallon (for Premium here in NY over 87) our savings total about $169. We estimated the costs since the first tank came with the car and we bought 2 discounted tanks (New Jersey and BJ's Wholesale Club).

Either way, we are saving at least $100 per month over our old car or $1,200 per year at current gas prices. We pay off the so-called "hybrid premium" in less than 3 years. Granted we are paying about $65 more per month for our Civic purchase over our Acura lease, but our maintenance is less and we will own the Civic where we rented the Acura.

Even so, we still work out ahead of the game as after 3 years (the duration of our Acura lease) our Civic will have more equity than what we owe on it based on current Civic blue-book wholesale values, more than enough to offset the additional monthly payments.

Some food for thought...

I agree.

Going from a Altima to an '04 HCHI, I figure I saved over $1,000 per year for the first two years. My '06 gets even better milage and my insurance went down $50/month when changing to Travelers with the Hybrid (and better coverage).

Hi

thats a good trade. A high grade gas car on lease for owning a hybrid. Trading any car for a hybrid is great, but that makes economical sense to me as well. I dont know how you pay off your hybrid premium off in 3 years vs a non hybrid same model, but compared to the money you are shelling out in gas -you are certainly coming out on top!!!

The economic potential with some of these cars are outstanding.
Too bad I've never, ever seen in print what #'s some hybrids are capable of.

My last car was a 4 cyl and did around 16-17MPG.
See my signiture below for how much has changed.

If I'd have gotten any other car, driving for efficiency would never have been considered. I'd still have the "Get out of my way" attitude and the gas either full off, or full on most of the time.
My 2nd runner up was the Civic EX or Dodge Neon.

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

What was your average MPG for the TL? I'm always curious to know because I was looking at getting the '05 TL, but got the HAH instead. My thinking is I'm getting 31 mpg with the HAH, which is about 96% of the EPA combined mileage of 32 mpg. If I were to get 96% of the 23 mpg the TL is supposed to get, then I would have gotten about 22 mpg with the TL.

At 17,582 miles since August 26, 2006, I've burned 559 gallons at a cost of $1,470.

If I were to be driving the TL, I'd have burned 799 gallons at a cost of $2,101.

That's a ten month savings of $631... or, $63.10 a month... or, $757.20 per year... if I would have spent the extra $4K and gotten the TL.



Looking at the FE of my previous vehicle, sitting at 19 mpg, I'd have burned $2,434 in fuel. That's an extra $964 I'd have shelled out for fuel over the past ten months if I hadn't bought the HAH. It definitely doesn't justify the car payments, but it definitely helps to offset it. And for the record, I've driven my previous vehicle for about 13 years, so I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it.

<Best Tank Economy!><Best Tank Endurance!>

I drove a truck for years (F-150), mostly due to owning horses and needing a truck. However, we only have one horse now, and she is boarded at a stable now.

When gas went past $3.00/gallon I really started to question why I was still driving it. It was paid for, ran well (even the A/C worked!) and wasn't requiring any repairs (yet). But with 250,000 miles, it made sense to get something more economical for driving around and commuting. So I've gone from 14 mpg to 41 mpg with my TCH and love it! I figure I'm saving over $200 a month on gas alone over driving the old truck.

I had the truck for 20 years. If I have the TCH for 10, it will have paid for itself in gas savings alone.

I've kept track with every tank. After 1 year and 23 days, I've saved $1561.81 by having the FEH rather than a similar conventional Escape, and $2574.98 by having the FEH rather than the '95 Escape I used to own.

All in a little over one year!

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

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I got between 17-23 but it seemed averaged 19 no matter what I did. The '04-'06 probably has better engine mapping and better mileage with the advanced VTEC.

I remember the 02-03 TL vs. TL-S was ULEV vs. LEV so you can see why there was more power and less MPG...both used 91+ octane

There's a fellow ("mixed") in www.clubsmartcar.ca who went from a 14 MPG F-150 to a 66 US MPG smart fortwo cdi. His daily commute is over 90 miles, each way. the fuel savings alone are paying for the smart car, AND the insurance.

2008 Mercedes-Benz B 200
2005 smart fortwo cdi pulse cabriolet
1966 Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection
1989 Peugeot 405 DL

If we had clean diesel in the U.S. (and better yet, Biodiesel in large percentages and quantities) and IF we could get the Smart Fourtwo here in the States, I'd consider one just for the commuting and for going to New York City for parking sake!