Cars
Best Values in Clean Cars
Hybrids aren't the only vehicles that go easy on the environment.
By Mark Solheim, Senior Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, October 2007
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Hybrid hopes
By the end of the year, 17 hybrid models will be available. Hybrid sales are projected to increase to 345,000 in 2007, up from 256,000 in 2006, according to J.D. Power and Associates. That sounds like a lot, but it's still only about 2% of vehicle sales. What's holding people back? One major obstacle is the higher sticker price for a hybrid over a comparable gas-engine model. Even if gas prices soar to $4 per gallon, you're unlikely to recoup the extra cost with savings at the pump.
Two notable exceptions are the affordable Toyota Prius ($22,795) and Honda Civic Hybrid ($23,195). If you look at ownership costs over five years (including federal tax credits), the $5,000 price premium you'll pay over conventional models almost disappears. Among midsize sedans, the Toyota Camry hybrid ($26,820), Nissan Altima hybrid ($25,615) and Saturn Aura Green Line ($22,695), which mate fuel-thrifty four-cylinder gas engines with electric motors, also come out favorably in the economic equation. (Tax credits vary by model and are completely phased out for Toyota and Lexus hybrids after September 30. For more information, see Tax Breaks for Green Cars.)
But sedans that use hybrid technology to boost performance without boosting mpg much are another matter. Honda discovered that buyers were reluctant to spend $31,685 for the Accord Hybrid, which features a six-cylinder engine and can sprint from zero to 60 miles per hour in 6.5 seconds. It will retire the car this year. Lexus markets its luxury high-performance hybrid sedans, the $55,615 GS 450h and the $105,000 LS 600h, as technological showcases and limits production to about 2,000 a year.
Not convinced the premium for a hybrid is worth it? Check out these seven economic gas-engine cars.
Hybrid SUVs
Betting that Americans are loath to part with their SUVs but want better fuel economy, carmakers are offering seven 2008-model hybrids, and the Porsche Cayenne hybrid is due out later in 2008. A case can be made for buying a Ford Escape hybrid, a Mercury Mariner hybrid or a Saturn Vue Green Line -- the smallest hybrid SUVs, with four-cylinder gas engines.
The calculations get fuzzier, however, with large and midsize SUVs. For example, the hybrid version of the redesigned 2008 Toyota Highlander gets combined city and highway fuel economy of 26 mpg, compared with 20 mpg for the gas-engine Highlander. (Note that fuel-economy numbers for 2008 models are lower than for 2007 models because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency instituted new testing procedures.) At $3 a gallon, the annual fuel cost for the hybrid is $1,730, versus $2,250 for the gas-engine model (assuming you drive 15,000 miles a year). That's a savings of $520 a year. Prices for the new Highlander hybrid haven't been announced yet, but the premium over the base gas model is likely to be about $8,000 -- enough to give many buyers pause.
One plus with hybrids is that they burn cleaner -- that is, their emissions contribute less to smog formation. For example, the new Highlander hybrid has a SULEV (super ultra-low emissions vehicle) engine, which means it is 90% cleaner than the average new vehicle; the gas-engine model is a ULEV II (50% cleaner). As for the effect on global warming, that's a factor of fuel economy. Rule of thumb: Every gallon of gasoline you burn spews 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.
Hybrids will get closer to producing zero emissions and will have reduced carbon-dioxide levels when lithium-ion batteries hit the market. With a lithium-ion battery -- the same type of battery that's in your laptop computer -- you'll be able to recharge by plugging into a wall socket and make short trips to the store using just the electric motor. For longer trips, you'll still have a gas engine. Both Toyota and GM are working on the technology, which is likely to be available in the U.S. in two or three years.