Green cars are no longer a novelty.
Many of us will seriously think about getting a hybrid or electric model for our next vehicle. High gasoline prices have ensured that.
But do green cars make sense - dollars and cents?Jessica Anderson is an associate editor for autos at Kiplinger's Personal Finance. "It's kind of a mixed bag depending on which green car you buy,You may end up saving more money than the gasoline version of the car or you may not."For its September issue, Kiplinger ran the numbers - the cost of ownership for the average driver over a five-year period. The question: do the fuel savings make up for the higher sticker price of a green vehicle.We figure five years is enough because it's the typical length of ownership for most people, and if you haven't seen your gas savings by five years, you're probably going to be very frustratedthey were surprised at how well the two electric vehicles, the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf did when compared to the closest gas-powered match. They compared the Volt with the Chevy Cruzeand the Nissan Leaf SV with the Nissan Versa S Hatchback.And while both of them cost about $18,000 more than the gasoline models, the Volt comes within $500 of Cruze's ownership costs over five years, and the Leaf is only $800 more than a Versa over five years because they do save so much,Hybrids are the most popular green machines. They do cut gas use. They are good for the environment. But what about your pocketbook? they're all over the place - depending on the model.You can be getting a really great deal like the Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid. It's actually the cheapest S-class that you can buy. And you save about $7,000 over five years. Conversely, another popular model, the Lexus LS600 hybrid, it costs more than $36,000 more than its gasoline counterpart and you lose all of that. It does not save money over the gasoline engine."
Many of us will seriously think about getting a hybrid or electric model for our next vehicle. High gasoline prices have ensured that.
But do green cars make sense - dollars and cents?Jessica Anderson is an associate editor for autos at Kiplinger's Personal Finance. "It's kind of a mixed bag depending on which green car you buy,You may end up saving more money than the gasoline version of the car or you may not."For its September issue, Kiplinger ran the numbers - the cost of ownership for the average driver over a five-year period. The question: do the fuel savings make up for the higher sticker price of a green vehicle.We figure five years is enough because it's the typical length of ownership for most people, and if you haven't seen your gas savings by five years, you're probably going to be very frustratedthey were surprised at how well the two electric vehicles, the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf did when compared to the closest gas-powered match. They compared the Volt with the Chevy Cruzeand the Nissan Leaf SV with the Nissan Versa S Hatchback.And while both of them cost about $18,000 more than the gasoline models, the Volt comes within $500 of Cruze's ownership costs over five years, and the Leaf is only $800 more than a Versa over five years because they do save so much,Hybrids are the most popular green machines. They do cut gas use. They are good for the environment. But what about your pocketbook? they're all over the place - depending on the model.You can be getting a really great deal like the Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid. It's actually the cheapest S-class that you can buy. And you save about $7,000 over five years. Conversely, another popular model, the Lexus LS600 hybrid, it costs more than $36,000 more than its gasoline counterpart and you lose all of that. It does not save money over the gasoline engine."
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