Hybrid owners may be spending less for gas, two recent studies show, but they're almost certainly also paying thousands more to the car companies for the privilege.
Studies by the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) and Edmunds.com in the U.S. make it clear that it's very hard for hybrid owners to recover the premiums car companies charge for their vehicles under the present economic conditions.
Essentially, hybrids don't save enough fuel at current gas prices to recover their extra cost, unless they're driven two-to-three times farther every year than the current average, but then that would increase the likelihood of service or maintenance work which would add more costs.
Of course, Hybrids would also make more financial sense at traditional annual driving distances if fuel prices went up to about $3 a liter.
It's impossible to state specific terms, however, since every hybrid carries a different premium and delivers different fuel economy levels, and sometimes there isn't a precise non-hybrid model to compare it with. Ford sells an Escape SUV with a traditional powertrain and one with a hybrid, for example, but there is no non-hybrid version of the Prius.
But on a case-by-case basis, both studies show over and over that there is no strong economic case for all hybrids in either Canada or the U.S.
The BCAA study did come up with a comparison that showed the Honda Accord Hybrid would be a lot less expensive ($3,305) over five years, but only if the hybrid delivered the promised fuel economy levels (which experience increasingly shows they do not), if they get reduced rate financing (available only in BC from VanCity), if they get a government grant, and if they don't cost any more to service. Big ifs, to put it mildly.
Edmunds.com did a similar review of the cost differences between hybrid and vehicles with traditional powerplants in the U. S. and reported that, "during the first five years of ownership, a hybrid can cost as much as US$5,283 more than its non-hybrid counterpart."
For its part, the Santa Monica-based organization could only come up with one example of a hybrid costing less over five years - a Toyota Camry LE would cost US$81 less than a Toyota Prius.
Phil Reed, a co-author of Edmunds.com's "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers," says possible hybrid buyers need to review the situation carefully. "While some people buy hybrid cars because they appreciate the environmental benefits and enjoy using advanced technology," Reed says, "consumers looking at hybrids solely to save money at the gas pump need to carefully research the cost of actually owning and operating a hybrid."
According to Reed, "most hybrids' high sales prices, insurance costs and related expenses will offset the savings" associated with lower fuel and maintenance costs, though that last item is pure conjecture.
Reed says Edmunds.com analysts do "predict this cost differential is likely to decrease as the technology matures and hybrids become more mainstream."
Currently, hybrids make up less than one percent of market share, so "the manufacturers have not yet been able to achieve economies of scale and are passing the higher costs along to their buyers."
Since current customer demand greatly exceeds supply, Reed says, "the vehicles are easily able to carry the premium transaction price. At some point in the near future, these dynamics are expected to change."
In reviewing both studies, it's easy to see that both agencies support the wholly estimable desire to find ways to reduce airborne pollution, as they give hybrids every break possible and soft-pedal the results. Notwithstanding that, it's also hard for anyone -- even the most vehement environmentalist -- to miss the reality that hybrids cost more to operate.
Of the two studies, the Edmunds.com effort probably carries more weight because the Santa Monica-based firm uses its highly-evolved and well-proven methodology of estimating real world costs.
Studies by the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) and Edmunds.com in the U.S. make it clear that it's very hard for hybrid owners to recover the premiums car companies charge for their vehicles under the present economic conditions.
Essentially, hybrids don't save enough fuel at current gas prices to recover their extra cost, unless they're driven two-to-three times farther every year than the current average, but then that would increase the likelihood of service or maintenance work which would add more costs.
Of course, Hybrids would also make more financial sense at traditional annual driving distances if fuel prices went up to about $3 a liter.
It's impossible to state specific terms, however, since every hybrid carries a different premium and delivers different fuel economy levels, and sometimes there isn't a precise non-hybrid model to compare it with. Ford sells an Escape SUV with a traditional powertrain and one with a hybrid, for example, but there is no non-hybrid version of the Prius.
But on a case-by-case basis, both studies show over and over that there is no strong economic case for all hybrids in either Canada or the U.S.
The BCAA study did come up with a comparison that showed the Honda Accord Hybrid would be a lot less expensive ($3,305) over five years, but only if the hybrid delivered the promised fuel economy levels (which experience increasingly shows they do not), if they get reduced rate financing (available only in BC from VanCity), if they get a government grant, and if they don't cost any more to service. Big ifs, to put it mildly.
Edmunds.com did a similar review of the cost differences between hybrid and vehicles with traditional powerplants in the U. S. and reported that, "during the first five years of ownership, a hybrid can cost as much as US$5,283 more than its non-hybrid counterpart."
For its part, the Santa Monica-based organization could only come up with one example of a hybrid costing less over five years - a Toyota Camry LE would cost US$81 less than a Toyota Prius.
Phil Reed, a co-author of Edmunds.com's "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers," says possible hybrid buyers need to review the situation carefully. "While some people buy hybrid cars because they appreciate the environmental benefits and enjoy using advanced technology," Reed says, "consumers looking at hybrids solely to save money at the gas pump need to carefully research the cost of actually owning and operating a hybrid."
According to Reed, "most hybrids' high sales prices, insurance costs and related expenses will offset the savings" associated with lower fuel and maintenance costs, though that last item is pure conjecture.
Reed says Edmunds.com analysts do "predict this cost differential is likely to decrease as the technology matures and hybrids become more mainstream."
Currently, hybrids make up less than one percent of market share, so "the manufacturers have not yet been able to achieve economies of scale and are passing the higher costs along to their buyers."
Since current customer demand greatly exceeds supply, Reed says, "the vehicles are easily able to carry the premium transaction price. At some point in the near future, these dynamics are expected to change."
In reviewing both studies, it's easy to see that both agencies support the wholly estimable desire to find ways to reduce airborne pollution, as they give hybrids every break possible and soft-pedal the results. Notwithstanding that, it's also hard for anyone -- even the most vehement environmentalist -- to miss the reality that hybrids cost more to operate.
Of the two studies, the Edmunds.com effort probably carries more weight because the Santa Monica-based firm uses its highly-evolved and well-proven methodology of estimating real world costs.