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Well, there you go again...

That was my reaction to this Newsweek article on The Hybrid Savings Hype (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12958916/site/newsweek/).

It immediately mentioned the Accord hybrid - of course it's not an economy hybrid, or any other hybrid outside of the Prius, HCH, Insight (maybe the FEH). The author recommended spending under $20,000 on a conventional compact that gets 30mpg in the city or better - can't disagree with that. He estimates that all the alleged interest in the hybrid will not result in sales until they are priced to within $2,000 of their conventional counterparts to make financial sense.

He was pretty hard on hybrids. I have to disagree on his analysis on recovering the hybrid premium on any vehicles.

My 1988 CRX HF was getting FE in the mid 30s. Comparing the 100,000 miles I'll soon have on my Insight at 58mpg vs maybe 33mpg on that CRX (if it could have lasted) - I've saved $2,612.33 at an average price of $2 a gallon. If it was really an average of $1.75 over those years, the saving were still $2285.79. Today, if someone swaped a 33mpg vehicle for a 58mpg one over the next 100,000 miles savings would be...

$3918.50 at $3.00 a gallon
$4571.58 at $3.50 a gallon
$5224.66 at $4.00 a gallon
$5877.73 at $4.50 a gallon
$6530.83 at $5.00 a gallonWhile I might have just broke even (and even penalize me $600 for the hybrid battery pack replacement recently), I think it's clear if I were to choose today between a conventional Civic or 5-speed Insight, I'd be ahead in five years easily, and that's not counting tax credits.

Hi Chuck:

___That guy careful to push the AH to the top of his **** list instead of the Prius II or HCH-II, wasn’t he?

___Quite a few misguided interpretations (the SUV and performance hybrid’s not included) in regards to payback. He left out the really big item being resale as well as and how the tax credits can reduce the premium to darn near parity with the HCH-II in particular. Add in the fuel savings and the hybrids are paying for themselves let alone some states w/ their own credits and HOV Lane access privileges which only add to their value!

___As for purchasing a Yaris, Fit, or Versa, they are good values for someone willing to purchase a B-class sized sub-compact. You, I, and many members here have covered those automobiles with both in-depth discussion and with their own spec pages but those automobiles are not anywhere near as luxuriously equipped or sized appropriately for a typical US family not willing to drop down the ladder to that level just yet. The guy simply glazed over the hard points where the resale alone has made those who have purchased FE based hybrids (Prius I, Prius II, HCH-I, and HCH-II) over the past 4 years who are far ahead of their non-hybrid counterparts in $’s left in their pocket and fuel not consumed …

___Is this another anti-hybrid agenda brewing or just another un-informed talking head spewing his own brand of BS?

___Good Luck and thanks for the link.

___Wayne

...Is this another anti-hybrid agenda brewing or just another un-informed talking head spewing his own brand of BS?...

They could open a biomass station just from his article.... :D :p