I know that there are folks who are thinking a hybrid will help them out economically and that the hybrid are also better for the environment. However, it takes a lot of driving to pay for the difference from 25 mpg (which is lower than the EPA average fuel economy of all cars sold in the US) and 40-45 mpg (which is the EPA average fuel economy for the hybrids). Yes, that is 20 more miles you can drive on each gallon, but you have to figure in the price of the new vehicle compared to your old vehicle.
The average motorist in the US drives 14,000 miles in a year according to the insurance institute. This means that if he gets 25 mpg he will use 560 gallons in a year's driving it will cost him $2240.00 if gas is $4.00/gal. The hybrids getting 45 miles/gal average will use 312 gallons in a year's driving, and it will cost $1248.00 is gas is $4.00/gal. Therefore, the driver of the hybrid will have a net fuel savings of $992.00/ year over the driver of the average car that gets 25 mpg.
Sounds like a good savings so far; but we haven't figured in the cost of the hybrid compared to what the person is currently driving. The average new car in the US is either leased for 3 years or financed for 5 years. Say the fellow who is going to get rid of his car has been driving it for 3 years and it cost him the average price of a new car in the US, or $22,000.00 and he still has 2 years left on the loan (I'm going to ignore the interest that would be left on it and just say that he still owes $9100.00 on the loan). Now he gets a hybrid with a price of $27,000.00 and gets $13,000.00 on his trade-in. This means that he is financing $23,000.00 because the $9100.00 he still owes on his non-hybrid is paid off by the dealer, so that means only $4,000.00 of the $13,000 he received for his trade-in is available for the down payment on the hybrid.
The $23,000 he now owes will take 5750 gallons of gas at 45 mpg he gets with the hybrid at the price of $4.00/gallon. Since he is only driving 14,000 miles in a year, he is only going to use 312 gallon in a year's driving (14,0000 miles/45 mpg), which will cost him $1248.00, it is going to take him only 18.5 years of driving the hybrid the 14,0000 average miles per year with $4.00/gallon fuel to break even. Or another way of looking at it is: He will only have to drive 259,000 miles to break even (14,000 miles/yearx18.5years=259,000 miles). So if he can possible find a way to drive 51,800 miles each and every year of the 5 years he financed the hybrid for, he will break even. Quite savings isn't it?
This doesn't even take into consideration the cost of replacing the battery packs. The hybrid manufacturers claim the battery packs will last 100,000 miles, so the battery pack is going to have to be replaced at least one time and more likely twice in the 259,000 miles needed to break even. And it will cost several thousand dollars to replace the battery pack just once, and this amount will have to be added to the total needed to drive in order to break even, let alone save any money.
Additionally, we don't know how long the electric motors used in the hybrids will last either. They may not last 259,000 miles, which means there will be even more expense added to the cost if the electric motor doesn't make it to 259,000 miles before it needs to be replaced.
Also, if a person can't find way or a need to drive nearly 52,000 miles per each of the 5 years he has the hybrid, he will most likely have some rust repair or repainting needed in the 18.5 years he will keep the car to break even. And that cost is not included either.
Then there is the environmental problem of what to do with all those battery packs the hybrids use when they wear out. The battery packs are not exactly non-toxic or non-polluting and I highly doubt the car companies will pay to dispose of them.
In other words, what looks like a good way to save some money and help the environment on its surface, really isn't a very good way to save money unless you are going to either drive nearly 52,000 miles every year for 5 years, or keep the car and drive it for 18.5 years.