With any new technology it can be hard to separate the hype from the reality, especially in the beginning. With plug-in hybrids set to hit the road soon, we present some of the advantages of owning a plug-in without any hyperbole. Also be sure to check out the disadvantages of Plug-in Hybrids before buying anything with four wheels, a motor and a plug. Also take a look at our Overview of Plug-in Hybrids for the history behind the technology and a brief explanation of how it works.
In the plug-in market, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is leading the way. The 2011 Fisker Karma, the start-up's luxury sports car, is also an option, albeit a much more expensive one. Toyota is not too far behind – we could see a plug-in Prius in the next year or two that the company hopes to price at about ten-thousand dollars less than the anticipated $41,000 base price of the first-generation Volt.
But new-fangled plug-ins make up only a corner of the expanding market for green (or at least greener) cars. The all-electric 2011 Nissan Leaf is expected to hit showrooms around the same time as the Volt, along with ever-improving traditional hybrids sans the plug, high-mileage turbo diesels and even GM's own 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, which leads a new class of conventional gas cars touting 40 miles per gallon efficiency.
Given all the options out there, here are the five advantages of choosing a plug-in hybrid today.
1. Saving Green
There is “save-the-environment” green and “save-your-money” green. A plug-in hybrid can save you some big cash while it does good things for the environment at the same time. There are some hefty tax credits that can reduce the sticker price by $7,500 or more to start, and then there are the fuel savings. It's tough to give an estimate of exactly how much a plug-in can save on fuel costs due to wide variations in driving habits, fuel and electricity prices, but by most estimates you can expect to spend anywhere between 4 and ten times less on gas than you would with a conventional gas car. Plug-in haters will be quick to point out the extra load on your electric bill of plugging your car in at night, but in most places electricity is much cheaper in terms of the potential miles it can carry you per dollar spent than gas – as much as 75 percent cheaper. Put in simpler terms, the gasoline savings with a plug-in should far outweigh the added electricity costs and lead to pretty significant net savings overall.
