High gas prices cause some hybrid vehicles to recoup prices faster (Photo by Ben VanWagoner)
Hybrid cars are generally more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. But as Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports, high gas prices mean several hybrid models are recouping their costs faster:
Transcript
Hybrid cars are generally more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. But as Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports, high gas prices mean several hybrid models are recouping their costs faster:
Hybrid cars like the Nissan Altima and Toyota Prius take around 4 years to pay back their premium. That’s according to the automobile research firm Edmonds.com. The GMC Yukon hybrid has the shortest payback period of the SUVs – almost five years. The hybrid that comes in dead last is the Lexus 600H.
John O’Dell at Edmunds.com says the Lexus could take over 80 years to recoup its premium.
“In that case you have a v8 engine that’s hybridized you’re really using the hybrid for some additional power and performance. You’re not using it – well you are using it for a little bit of gas savings – but we compute those saving to be a mere $192 dollars a year.”
That’s compared to more than a thousand dollars a year in gas savings for the Yukon and the Prius.
For The Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton