48 mpg is nice, but hybrids don’t add up right now

NEW YORK


Paying thousands of extra dollars for a hybrid car when gas topped $4 a gallon wasn’t unreasonable because with enough driving, it only took a few years to recoup the added cost. But with the economy mired in a recession and fuel prices at their lowest in six years, pinched consumers seem less willing to fork over the extra thousands of dollars for a car that coaxes just a few extra miles out of a gallon of gas.

At this point, buying a hybrid makes as much economic sense as buying a gas-guzzling SUV did last summer.

“The cost-benefit analysis doesn’t support the decision to buy one of these higher-priced hybrids today,” said Stephen Spivey, senior auto analyst for the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. “Obviously, if fuel prices go back up, it’s going to be more attractive to look at a hybrid.”

AP