...but not as stupid as the hippies that buy them.

Honda Insight Hybrid

Cost: $20,000
MPG: 63
Cool Points: -100

Honda Civic Hybrid

Cost: $20,000
MPG: 51
Cool Points: 0 (You can't tell it's hybrid)

Hybrid cars combine both an electric and traditional gasoline engine. At low speeds the car runs on the electric motor, is almost completely silent, and doesn't burn gasoline. At higher speeds, the combustion engine kicks in to produce the torque needed to travel on highways and such. The car doesn't need to be plugged in; when you use the brakes the car's battery bank charges. Sounds great, right? Wrong.

PROS: Extremely high efficiency, quiet operation at low speeds, you get to pat yourself on the back for being a friend to the environment.

CONS: If you get hit from behind: Your back passengers can get splashed with battery acid, rescue workers can't use the jaws of life because they can get electrocuted, and the damage will be so costly to the electronics you will end up buying a completely new car. Insurance companies love that.

ADDITIONAL CONS: You look like a hippie driving one, small mammals can't hear you coming, and you might as well take $3,000 out of the bank and throw it in the trash.

$3,000 in the trash? Yes. Here's why:

Let's compare the Honda Civic Hybrid to the normal Honda Civic:

Honda Civic Hybrid

Cost: $19,900
MPG: 51

 

Normal Honda Civic

Cost: $13,260
MPG: 35

 

The only differences are in the fuel economy and price, you can see the bodies are identical (wise move by Honda). Let's do some math:

The difference in price is: $19,900-$13,260 = $6,640
The difference in average fuel economy is: 51 - 35 = 16 mpg

Making a low assumption of the price of gas at $2.00 per gallon, you need to use:

$6,640/$2.00 = 3320 gallons of gasoline to make up the price difference.

At 51 miles per gallon, that's:

3320 x 51 = 169,320 miles.

The average American drives about 15,000 miles per year, so it would take 11.2 years to make up the difference in price, and by then you'd have kids and need a minivan anyways.

If you throw $3,000 in the trash, you'd make up the difference in 6.1 years, which is more realistic.