The lowdown on alt-fuel cars

Hybrid vs. diesel vs. flex-fuel: Which will do the most for the environment, fuel supplies and your bank account.

Hybrid

Gas/electric hybrids use electric motors to assist a gasoline engine in driving the vehicle. In hybrid cars now on the market, the batteries for the electric motor are charged by the gasoline engine and by power recaptured during slowing and stopping of the vehicle.


Vehicle costs: Adds about $2,000 to $3,000, but hybrid models usually have unrelated additional features making it difficult to assess the cost of the hybrid feature alone.

Efficiency: Increases fuel efficiency by anywhere from 25 to 40 percent compared to vehicles with similar-sized gasoline engines.

Fuel costs: Uses gasoline, so reduces fuel costs to the same degree that it increases fuel efficiency.

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