A new study by online auto reviewer Edmunds.com says:
Some hybrid cars will make up for their premium cost because of higher gas prices and tax credits from the U.S. government on the more fuel efficient vehicles, a study released Tuesday shows.
[...]
The consumer-focused automotive Web site said that, assuming vehicles were driven 15,000 miles per year and gas was priced at $3 per gallon, owners of the Toyota Prius and Ford Motor Co.'s Escape Hybrid would break even within three years.
Buyers of the Saturn Vue Green Line from General Motors Corp., the Toyota Camry and the Civic Hybrid from Honda Motor Co. would break-even within six years, Edmunds.com said.
BUT (dammit)...
But federal tax credits for hybrid buyers are being phased out on the most popular models.
Under a provision of the tax code, buyers of a Toyota hybrid after Sept. 30 will only qualify for half of the tax credit for which they would have previously qualified.
Tax incentives will also be cut on other hybrids after auto makers sell 60,000 of the vehicles -- a sales threshold Toyota has reached.
The tax credit on Toyota and Lexus hybrids is scheduled to drop to 25 percent in April 2007 and then be eliminated in October 2007.
