Hybrid Car

Is it time to buy a Hybrid car?

With Gas prices rising and staying in the near $4.00 a Gallon mark, many people around the world as reconsidering purchasing a Hybrid car.

If you’re interested in ditching your gas guzzling vehicle in favor of a hybrid, be sure to consider whether or not it’s worth the cost. Keep in mind that you probably won’t get much money for your less fuel-efficient vehicle. Factor in, too, taxes and other fees that are involved. “It could take years worth of cheap fill-ups to recoup those costs, if you recoup them at all,” says AuWerter. Don’t let gas prices dictate your purchase.

Don’t let tax breaks influence the process either. “There’s a really great federal tax credit when it comes to hybrid cars, but… for starters, it doesn’t apply to all cars,” says AuWerter. Big tax discounts only apply to the first 60,000 cars sold by the auto maker; that eliminates Lexus and Toyota hybrids immediately. AuWerter adds that the Honda Civic is hovering dangerously close to the 60,000 mark, but there are other car companies that still qualify.

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How Hybrid Cars Work Video

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All-Electric Cars’ the new Hybrid

Plenty of manufacturers now offer hybrids – some based on licensed Toyota technology – but the real action, they say, is in the next generation of all-electric vehicles, which will do away with petrol altogether. A string of announcements has cemented all-electric cars’ status as the next big thing. In the latest, Mitsubishi Motors and Peugeot said yesterday they might co-operate on development of electric-vehicle power trains.

Yozo Hasegawa, author of Clean Car Wars, says all-electrics might indeed push hybrids into obsolescence – though probably not for a decade at least. More to the point, the carmakers trumpeting all-electrics the loudest won’t necessarily rule the market for them. “They came late to hybrids and are hoping electrics will be a leapfrog technology,” he says. Would-be leapers include Mitsubishi, Nissan-Renault and General Motors, all of which have electrics in development. But they will eventually have to go head-to-head with Toyota and Honda, the second-most successful hybrid maker.

The pair have been quiet about their all-electric plans – neither has an interest in speeding hybrids’ exit, after all – but will bring serious technology to the segment. Koji Endo, analyst at Credit Suisse, agrees: “If Toyota and Honda want to move into all-electric cars it will be relatively easy. An electric car is just a hybrid with the gas tank removed.”

Hybrid Cars