With the possible exception of the Prius vs standard Camary, hybrids don't break-even over five years of ownership. Article did mention alternatives:

• Gentler driving (good luck on convincing the general public!)
• Diesel vehicles
• Smarter shopping for conventional fuel-effieient vehicles

CNN/Money Article

...based on an average $2.00 gallon over the five years I've had my Insight, $2,400 was saved. In another year or two, I'll break-even.

 

No one talks much about leasing hybrids. I wonder if that would change the equation. Also, leasing a hybrid might make sense because you don't have to worry about the battery wearing out.

 

Unfortunately, not many places have this. I pursued a tip that Toyota of Dallas leased Prius' but it was intentionally/unintentionally misinterperted into a request for a test drive.

I hope this changes in the near future.

 

The article basically says "Think twice before buying a hybrid." More brilliant advice from journalists. We would certainly be lost without them.

This got me to thinking: I don't recall ever seeing an article that proposed that people "Think twice before buying that huge gas-guzzling SUV."

Hmmm. Just as many articles about that as there were warning us to "Think twice before investing in the dot-com boom."

I think I'm seeing a trend here.

 

Wow, another load of inaccurate garbage.

 

While researching my future purchase, I looked at diesels also as the article suggests. More specifically I looked at the Jetta TDI. One interesting note was that the TDI was about $3K higher than it's gasoline using brother.

Ironically, diesels have the same problem as hybrids, you have to pay more to get the better mileage. I wonder what price diesel fuel has to be before you break-even on buying a TDI jetta.

 

I just loathe how the media believes that the SOLE reason to buy a hybrid is to save money on gasoline. That's typical SUV thinking there. Why doesn't the Media ever tout the *other* benefits of hybrid ownership, such as:

-- Much lower greenhouse emmissions.
-- A very quiet ride.
-- Reliable, solid engineering.
-- Satisfaction in knowing that you are doing your part to conserve non-renewable resources.

Of course, the media never mentions the Road Warriors like myself who have already broken even on the hybrid surcharge. I drive 30k miles per year. A hybrid was a no-brainer.

 

Two things came to mind after reading this article:

1. They compared the Prius to a Camry. The Prius owners should be pleased - the press used to compare it to a Corolla. In fact, some of the articles made the Prius sound like a Corolla with a hybrid powertrain.

2. People could save even more money and ride the freakin' bus once in a while. Admittedly, it's not for everyone. Riding the bus to work makes my 45-minute commute 2 hours. However, I can watch a DVD movie / do work / read the newspaper, etc. I try to ride the bus one day a week. I could do up to 4 days a week, but it would drive me crazy.

 

3. Carpool. It is somewhat difficult to organize two different people's schedules. Three and above is worse. But It can be done.
I carpool with four fellow workers. And it is very worthwhile not only from the standpoint of saving gas and vehicle wear, but also because it is so much less boring to do a long commute if you have somebody to chat and/or make jokes.

 

Another reason to own hybrids is so you don't have to refuel as often. Their tanks are usually only slightly smaller than a regular car's, yet they get much better mileage.

But yes, the article's a bit ignorant. A Jetta TDI is actually quite expensive, around $23000 IIRC, yet it gets worse mileage than most of the hybrids.