If you've been considering a buying a new hybrid vehicle you've no doubt noticed that there is a significant price premium associated with adding electric drive motors and big batteries to a vehicle. You will almost certainly have lowering operating costs thanks to the regenerative braking and electric assist, but several things factor into how long it will take for those savings to overcome that initial premium.
Over at FuelEconomy.gov they've put together a nice little calculator that estimates the payback period of a hybrid compared to its conventional alternative. Hybrids get most of their benefit from recapturing kinetic energy during braking, saving it in the battery and then returning it to propulsion through the motor. If you do most of your driving on the highway, the benefits of a hybrid will be limited, but if most of your commuting is stop and go urban traffic, the payback will be a lot quicker so make sure you adjust the slider for how much city driving you do.
In general for the average driver that does about 15,000 miles and 55% in the city, the payback for most hybrids is about 4-5 years.
#hybrid #fuelefficiency
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Hybrid Compare
These are some hybrid models that may pay you back quickly when compared to a similarly equipped non-hybrid model. Select a model to see how it compares based on your fuel prices and annual miles.
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Hybrids flopped
I guess that is why 2.5M Priuses have been sold.
I hope that people don't leave the $/gallon field at default. Most calculations I've seen operate on today's fuel prices. They tripled over the last 10 years, and considering that India and China's consumption rates are going up at a dramatic pace, why should we assume fuel prices will stay steady over the next 10 years?