Hybrid Cars Recoup Their Costs

It’s been conventional wisdom for a while now that hybrid cars are an emotional buy because unless they are being used in a commercial context, they never save enough gas to make back the extra money they cost. With $3 gas, Edmunds.com is reporting that understanding may be about to change.

Their study has found that certain models of hybrid (including the Prius and Escape) make back their extra cost within three years at current gas prices, when savings from tax incentives are accounted for. That means drivers will actually begin to enjoy some real financial advantages on top of that warm fuzzy feeling you get from not driving around in a poster car for oil addiction.

For more fun, Wired has done some studying of their own comparing cost savings of owning a hybrid to conventional cars. The result? With what you’re paying to gas up that SUV, any savings in initial cost is gone faster than a Buick warranty.