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When cross shopping a hybrid vehicle with a “normal” car, you are probably wondering the same thing many others in the same position are: At the end of the day, how much money will buying a hybrid car keep in my pocket? While we could say “a lot” by comparing a hybrid to a gas guzzling sports car of some kind this would be a fairly useless comparison used only to skew a hybrid’s fuel to dollar savings ratio. Instead, let’s take a look at a more real world scenario with two very comparable (and typically cross shopped) cars: the Honda Fit vs. the Honda Insight.

On the all gasoline powered side, there’s the fuel sipping Honda Fit. Also recently refreshed, the Fit is the poster child for big value in a small package: 5 seats, 4 doors, and incredibly generous cargo space particularly when the seats are folded down origami style.

Representing the most current hybrid car available from Honda is the “looks like a Prius” Insight. A reboot of the Insight nameplate, the all new Honda hybrid vastly improves upon the old model by adding seating for 5, lots of cargo space, and overall style much more current than it’s quirky vacuum cleaner-esque ancestor.

Power wise, the specs show the Honda Fit as the clear front runner in horsepower, with 117hp to the Insights’ 98hp, while the Honda hybrid trumps the Fit in torque; putting out 123lb. ft. of torque to the Fits’ 106lb. ft. Despite the disparity in numbers, tests conducted by various sources confirm that both the Fit and Insight have very comparable power outputs, typically feeling quite similar in get up and go on road and on track.

Now that we have general specs to verify cross shop-ability, it’s time to take a look at the all important fuel economy numbers that separate the hybrids from the rest of the pack . . .

We can safely say that generally, the Honda Insight, with its gas-electric hybrid power train, will net you approximately 40mpg mixed city/highway on average, while the fuel efficient all gasoline powered Honda Fit will net about 30mpg under the same conditions. right off the bat we see a net gain of 10 miles per gallon with the Insight. But how does this fuel savings translate to cash savings in your wallet?

Let’s say you drive an average of 15,000 miles per year, and gasoline prices at around $3.50 per gallon nationwide (for now.) All told, that’s $1321.50 per year in fuel costs with a Honda Insight, while the fueling the Fit will cost us $1750.00 per year. That equals a difference of $437.50 in fuel per year. A decent savings in fuel costs for sure, but not quite the end of our comparison . . .

Now that we have the average yearly fuel savings of Honda’s hybrid calculated, we do a little more math to find the difference in base price of each car. As is the current trend with hybrids of any make, the base Honda Insight’s technological goodies come in at a slightly higher cost of around $20,000 for the base model. In contrast a comparable Honda Fit Sport will run you about $18,000 off the lot, coming to an approximate $2,000 savings over a base Honda Insight. That $2,000 translates to about 4 1/2 to 5 years of ownership of the Insight to make up the difference in base prices through savings at the pump. After which time dollar gains from fuel savings should begin to be fully realized.

While 5 years seems to be a bit long to realize a true dollar savings, there are a few other factors to take into account when considering a hybrid over a comparable gas only vehicle. The factor having the most sway over cash in your pocket: Gasoline prices, which are unfortunately much more likely to rise than fall in the future. As the global economy slowly makes a U turn, so too will the price of oil. While we are still a ways off from the high prices seen in summer 2008, we are already experiencing a slow rise in the price of crude. As oil is not an infinite resource, gasoline prices are destined to continue to rise in the future; making monetary savings (and gains) from savings at the pump more all the more apparent, and more quickly recouped, as crude prices rise.

While this discussion has been focused solely on monetary gains thus far, there are the positive ecological ramifications of hybrid vehicles to consider as well. While the positive ecological impact hybrid cars have on the environment may seem small, they are still positive gains; and none the less an additional reason to consider a hybrid when shopping for your next car.

by Renee Calis