AAA indicates the average driving cost in the US is about $0.56/mile.
What is the average driving cost per mile for various hybrid vehicles?

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Request for Question Clarification by efn-ga on 06 Apr 2006 00:30 PDT

Hi ikoskela,

Please take a look at these pages from Consumer Reports and Edmunds:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/high-cost-of-hybrid-vehicles-406/hybrids-vs-all-gas.htm

http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/press/105827/article.html

If you find these credible sources and a reasonable selection of
vehicles, I can do the division and give you an answer with costs per
mile.

--efn

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Clarification of Question by ikoskela-ga on 06 Apr 2006 09:31 PDT

These sources are perfect. Please proceed. :)

Hi ikoskela,

Thanks for accepting my proposed answer.

As you saw, Consumer Reports and Edmunds have estimated five-year
total cost of ownership for some hybrid cars on these pages.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/high-cost-of-hybrid-vehicles-406/hybrids-vs-all-gas.htm

http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/press/105827/article.html

Since both assumed 15,000 miles per year, for a total of 75,000 miles,
we can just divide the five-year costs by 75,000 to get costs per
mile.  I have put these results, rounded to the nearest cent, into a
table for you.

Vehicle                           CR      Edmunds
Ford Escape Hybrid                54        67
Honda Accord Hybrid               56        67
Honda Civic Hybrid                38        49
Lexus RX400h                      71
Toyota Highlander Hybrid Ltd      63    
Toyota Prius                      36        51


Search Strategy

Besides "hybrid," I found the terms "total cost ownership" worked
better than "cost per mile."


I hope this information meets your need.

--efn

exactly what i was looking for

Unfortunately I don't think this data is available right now.  

I did my own analysis of hybrids vs their gas counterparts and found
that the hybrid is a worse deal for the wallet and for power. 
Overall, the average new hybrid will cost about 10% more (potentially
much more if the $5,000 batery dies) than a similar pure gas car from
birth to death.  This includes all financial costs of owning the car:
purchase price
federal tax incintive (a negative cost)
gas
insurance
maintanence
taxes

Of course, most people who buy a hybrid car will buy a smaller car
than they would buy if they went for a gas car... so the average
hybrid buyer probably saves money compared to what they would have
spent.  And also, the average hybrid car is designed from a car that
guzzles less gas than the average car on the road (notice the largest
SUVs and powerful sports cars that are so popular yet have no hybrid
counterpart).

And finally I'll point out that hybrid cars get less performance than
their counterparts.  The batteries weigh 700+ lbs.  In a small car
(compare the ECHO 2000 lbs to the Prius 2800 lbs) that is a HUGE
difference when it comes to accelleration.  The 2 cars have similar
power but very different accelleration rates.

There are also hybrids that run on gasoline or natural gas, at least in Europe.

They are a whole different game, since when used within range of
natural gas filling stations, one can avoid gasoline pricing (taxes!)
to a greater extend.