Note: This site is currently "Under construction". I'm migrating to a new version of my site building software. Lots of things are in a state of disrepair as a result (for example, footnote links aren't working). It's all part of the process of building in public. Most things should still be readable though.

Hybrid Prices

I like the idea of a hybrid car, but they are going to have to do way better on the price before it makes sense from a financial perspective. Using the Toyota web site as an example, they have the following specs listed: Camry CE (base model) Price: $18,270 MPG City: 24 MPG Highway: 33 Camry Hybrid Price: $25,900 MPG City: 40 MPG Highway: 38 So, a price difference of $7630. I drive about 300 miles/week. If you take today price of $2.79/gallon for an average and assume that all my driving is at the "City" milage/gallon consumption I would spend $1,813.50 on gas per year for the Camry CE and $1,088.10/year for the Camry Hybrid. At a difference of $725.40/year it would take about 10 and a half years to break even on the price difference. Of course, most of my driving is actually of the "Highway" type which would result in $1,318.91/year for the Camry CE and $1,145.37 for the Hybrid. A difference of $173.54/year which would take almost 44 years to break even. Of course, I'm not taking tax breaks into the equation, but still. I don't mind paying a reasonable amount more for something that's friendlier to the environment, but over 7 grand is out of the question until I win the lotto.