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We all know that the big perk of owning a hybrid vehicle is the fact you will get better gas mileage which, obviously, leads to a nice savings on the amount of money you spend on gas.
Unfortunately, to gain the savings at the pump you will have to pay more at the dealership. Depending on how much you drive, this actually may not be much of an issue.
According to a study by Edmonds.com you may be able to break even on the ”extra price” within two years of purchasing the vehicle, thanks to the money you’ll save on the tax credit and savings at the pump.
According to Edmonds.com’s figures, the hybrid vehicles that reach the breakeven point for the increased price the fastest are the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape, with the Prius taking 1.2 years and the Escape taking 1.7 years, based on 25,000 miles driven annually.
The vehicle that took the longest to repay for itself was the Toyota Highlander at 7.5 years.
Another interesting thing in the Edmonds.com article is the explanation of the tax credit for purchasing a hybrid vehicle:
“Full tax credits are only provided to consumers until shortly after each manufacturer has sold 60,000 hybrids. After that threshold is reached, the tax credit gets cut in half. For Toyota and Lexus buyers, that threshold has been reached – so anyone who buys a Toyota or Lexus hybrid after September 30, 2006 will only qualify for half the tax credit. The credit for these models will drop to 25% in April 2007 and then to zero in October 2007.”
If you were looking at buying a Prius or any of the other Toyota/Lexus hybrids, you’ve got less than 30 days to take advantage of the full tax credit!
Hopefully studies like the one published on Edmonds.com will help encourage more people to consider purchasing a hybrid vehicle – not just for the good of the environment, but for the good of their finances as well.
