The Prius and Civic Hybrid Will Save You Money

As long as you own and drive them for at least 5 years. Detroit needs to realize that there is major money to be made in making fuel efficient vehicles. Unfortunately, the US car industry is addicted to the higher margin items: cars and trucks.

Consumer Reports weighs in:

Consumer Reports now says it made an error in calculating the cost of owning a hybrid: Buyers of the 2006 Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids will save money over five years of ownership, the magazine said Tuesday.

Four other hybrid gas-electric vehicles still cost more than comparable gasoline-only models, but the added expenses are much less than Consumer Reports' earlier figures, the magazine said.

Last week, the organization released a statement ahead of its well-read April auto issue that said owners of the six most popular gas-electric hybrid vehicles would pay more than buyers of comparable gas-only vehicles over five years of ownership and 75,000 miles of driving.

Late Tuesday, however, Consumer Reports issued a statement acknowledging math mistakes.

``We deeply regret the error,'' Rik Paul, the magazine's automotive editor, said in the statement.

The new calculations show that owners of the Toyota Prius will save $406 and owners of the Honda Civic hybrid will save $317 compared with owners of their gas-only counterparts. However, owners of four other hybrids -- the Honda Accord, Ford Escape, Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX 400h -- will still end up spending $1,883 to $5,508 more over five years and 75,000 miles, Consumer Reports said.

The writing is on the wall though. California is by far the largest car market in the US, and standards in California are something Detroit cannot ignore.

California has already passed a bill and approved regulations cutting greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles by 22% by model year 2012 and 30% by model year 2016.

The California Air Resources Board did their own estimates, and I am hopeful the cost will continue to go down. Scale matters folks, as more people buy fuel efficient vehicles, those sales will spur more investments, and ultimately lower costs. Being a used-car buyer, I can't wait to start seeing these things in the used-car market.

According to ARB staff, the average reduction of greenhouse gases from new California cars and light trucks will be about 22 percent in 2012 and about 30 percent in 2016, compared to today's vehicles. Costs for the added technology needed to meet the rule are expected to average about $325 per vehicle in 2012 and about $1050 per vehicle to comply in 2016. The ARB staff analysis concludes that the new rule will result in savings for vehicle buyers by lowering operating expenses that will more than offset the added costs of the new vehicles and provide an overall cost savings to consumers.