jmaynard is right about hybrids being expensive here in the US. A friend of mine bought one new, and it was significantly more expensive than a new car of the same class and size would be.
The bigger problem for me is that I do not make a lot of long road trips, and the current models of hybrid get their best gas mileages (and therefore cost savings) on long road trips.
Actually, hybrids do best in stop and go traffic and city driving, where the electric motors can carry a lot of the load. I do make long road trips (95% of my driving is at 70 MPH or so), and a hybrid would be worse than useless for me.
It's not at all uncommon to see a hybrid be rated for better mileage in city driving than highway.
It may be rated that way, but it's not actually true. Our Prius gets about 5-10 mpg better on highway driving than in stop-and-go. Friends with one say the same. The thing about a hybrid is, the gasoline motor charges the battery, so you can't just run on battery for very long. (Regenerative braking also helps, but not enough). The real savings come because the gasoline motor is small, and the car depends on the electric motor for extra oomph when needed (like when you're accelerating).
In any case, yeah, the break-even point is not close. We tend to own cars for 15 years or so, and expect to get there eventually, but it's a way off.
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The bigger problem for me is that I do not make a lot of long road trips, and the current models of hybrid get their best gas mileages (and therefore cost savings) on long road trips.
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It's not at all uncommon to see a hybrid be rated for better mileage in city driving than highway.
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In any case, yeah, the break-even point is not close. We tend to own cars for 15 years or so, and expect to get there eventually, but it's a way off.
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