Everything Green: Is a Hybrid Worth It?

For years I did the commute from Wilmington to Boston - 22 Miles from door to door. I bought a 2008 Civic Hybrid brand spankin’ new, when gas prices were high and when these particular cars were on back-order from Japan. It came right off the boat to its new home in Wilmington and has lived there ever since. The difference in cost between the Hybrid and the Non-Hybrid version was about $5000. But was it worth it??? The short answer in in my case is yes.

Want to see the math?

40 miles round trip a day x 5 days a week = 200 miles a week

52 weeks a year = 10400 miles for the daily Boston to Wilmington commute (Ouch!)

Let’s work off 15000 miles a year since that is more realistic given weekend trips and vacations

15000 miles a year with a car that averages 40 miles per gallon sitting in Boston commuter traffic

15000/40 = 375 gallons of gas with a Hybrid Civic

15000/24 = 625 gallons of gas with a regular Civic

250 Gallons at $3.8 per gallon = $950 a year in savings

Over 5 years, the gas savings is $4750, (paying for the hybrid upgrade)

Anything after 5 years is just money in the bank.  In my particular case though, we have traveled much more and so the cost benefit increases more if you drive more miles a year than the scenario above. It also depends on whether or not youplan to have the car for more than 5 years, and what the average gas price isfor that morning commute over that 5 year period. So my answer may not be thesame for you, but in my case, the answer was, and still is YES.