Feds tally payback time for hybrids; instant for some

A government fuel-economy website now calculates payback for hybrids vs. lower-price but similarly equipped gasoline models.

It's the "similarly equipped" part that's often missing, the feds say.

The new feature is the work of the National Transportation Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It maintains and operates the fueleconomy.gov website that publishes the Environmental Protection Agency's official mileage ratings for cars and trucks.

The transportation unit says that shoppers can be misled by some articles: "These stories argue that the higher upfront sticker price makes the hybrid's payback period too long. However, some of the stories compare hybrids, which are usually equipped with more standard features, with base model gasoline vehicles that may not be as well-equipped. These comparisons ignore the value of the optional equipment that comes standard on many hybrid models."

The government site, in contrast, "looks at manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) and fuel cost for hybrids and non-hybrids with comparable styles and trim levels, and the results show that there are some hybrids that really do save money."

No-brainer examples cited by the transportation unit at the new hybrid payback website include Buick LaCrosse and Lincoln MKZ models equipped and priced the same whether hybrid or gasoline. The hybrids use less fuel, so they instantly save the buyer money.

Of immediate interest to Drive On is the comparison of the Honda Insight hybrid vs. the Honda Fit gasoline car, which is the most-similar model that Honda sells in the U.S. The recently updated Insight is the subject of this week's Test Drive column, in print tomorrow and online Saturday.

The feds show the Insight's fuel-cost savings would take 5.3 years to repay a buyer who spent the $2,375 extra for the Insight vs. a similarly outfitted Fit.

The government site, however, makes no allowances for different, and changing, incentives on hybrid and non-hybrid models.

When the Lincoln MKZ hybrid/non-hybrid models were launched together, the gas model carried an incentive and the hybrid didn't, which would skew the calculation of real-world payback time.

And at the moment, according to shopping site Edmunds.com, the Buick LaCrosse eAssist hybrid has a discount of $1,500 making it that much cheaper to buy than the gasoline version. The two have identical starting prices of $31,045 on their window stickers.