Nearly everyone who approaches us these days asks the same car question. I’ve begun to recognize the shuffle of their feet and the curious gleam in their eyes before I hear “Should I get a hybrid?”. And with gas hovering at $4 a gallon even those of us at Everyday Driver are thinking about fuel-efficient cars.

But no one’s talking about the real cost of saving gas. Cost, you say? “It’s cheaper… that’s the whole point! Burning less fuel will cost me less money.” No. All we can promise you is buying less gas, because there’s a good chance you’ll actually spend more. And I’m sorry to say that explaining it is gonna involve some math.

Take a deep breath. I promise this will hurt me more than it will hurt you.

The Hybrid technology costs a premium. It’s cutting edge stuff mastered by people with an aversion to sunlight, a love for calculus, and brains the size of basketballs. It requires crazy materials and more computing power than was used to go to the moon. All for one little car. So, naturally, they have to charge you extra. Generally about $3,000 to $5,000 over an equivalent non-hybrid.

This is where things start to go pearshaped.

Let’s take a real example. No, not the Prius for once, but the New Chevy Tahoe Hybrid vs. the Standard Gas burning Tahoe (or the GMC Yukon variant, if you prefer). Both have big V-8s. Both are the same body on frame SUV architecture and are almost identical outside of the Hybrid powerplant. In a standard Tahoe you’ll get about 14mpg in the city. In the Hybrid, you’ll get about 20. Significant difference. These aren’t Prius numbers, but for a 4WD monster like this that’s a big improvement.

So. The Hybrid instantly saves you 6mpg! With a 30 gallon tank you can now go 600 miles instead of a measly 420!! For a $4 gallon it only costs you twenty cents a mile instead of twenty-nine!!! Hallelujah!

Wait… Sit down and kill the choir for a moment. Notice that the hybrid version cost you $5,000 more than the standard one. How long is it going to take you to save $5000 in gas?

See. I warned you there’d be math.

The answer is over 50,000 miles, or more than three years for most drivers. Which means you’ll have to drive your hybrid longer than that to achieve your savings. And how many of you keep a car more than 3 years?

Essentially, unless you can sell your current car and buy a gas-saver for the same cost, then a switch doesn’t work. Your gas savings at the pump go right into paying for the car until you offset the extra money. Mpg alone is not the answer.

I would like to spend less money in gas. But like you, my budget can’t handle a big change. So, personally… I’ll keep filling my less efficient cars for a couple years until they have to be replaced. They’re old, they have high mileage, but they run great and they are paid for. My only cost is insurance and gas at the pump. Close to impossible to beat those numbers.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say I was debating buying a Prius. So, $25,000 to get a new car and save a bunch of gas. Wouldn’t do it. I’d spend $15,000 or so and get a couple year old Honda Civic. Almost as good gas mileage and I saved myself $10,000 before I left the lot!

Wanna compare and contrast for yourself? Plug your cars and MPG numbers into our handy equation sheet.
MPG Cost Comparison
(We use FuelEconomy.gov for real world MPG research)

And let’s go back to the great questions, like: “Turbos or Superchargers?” and “What’s the best Hot Hatchback?” The questions of the universe…

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