Study: Hybrid cars will pay for themselves over time

Notice this pay off only occurs with the cheapest models so far. And the study was researched when gas was 30 cents higher a gallon. So your payoff is still there but is extended a bit. If gas goes up to $4.00 a gallon then the payoff is much faster.

and what is the ugly beast ion the picture?

you know what's easier to save money with?
a cheaper car.

or better, bring a hybrid packed with diesel power-plant. I am willing to bet that'll be the answer for this crazy gas price..

sulev, you posed the same question i've been wondering for a while. Seriously, what is keeping from having a diesel-hybrid. For some reason I don't think the technical hurdles are that great. So barring that it usually has to be an economic one (and I'm not talking the 'too expensive to build' kind)

jeffy210- The hybrid was targeted to America for the big market, while they are now being sold more abroad, the Hybrid developers knew Americans had a distaste for the diesel due to it’s checked history here. So they developed them with gasoline engines to avoid a marketing pitfall in the US. The diesel hybrid is a much more effective beast than the gasoline version. They will come out soon enough.

also, diesel engines are heavier, so a hybrid diesel is likely to weigh quite a few kilos more.

I dont care how much you save in gas money. After that 100,000 or maybe 200,000 miles are up on your batteries the enviroment is the one thats going to be paying the price. A lot of people dont want to look at the future when it comes to these Hybrids.