| 1. Economics depends on your driving style. You generally get better gas mileage, but you gotta drive a lot for THAT to be worth it. The more you drive, the more the hybrid will pay off. I have not seen any statisitics saying that driving on the freeway is WORSE milage, if anything its not a radical difference. The city driving MPG is a radical difference though.
2. Hybrid vehicles costs over the years have not really been determined yet. Hybrid vehicles are new in concept, but the technology is nothing new. The big question in my mind is "how much are replacement batteries?" After 5?7?10? years you'll need to replace the batteries. I don't know how much those cost, and no one really knows... because the mass market is not replacing it yet.
With gas prices expected to rise... i'd do some calculations. Look into any federal tax deductions for buying a hybrid. Not sure if those are still up or not. |