32 years!

Benefits of hybrids slow to arrive at pocketbook
Friday, January 28, 2005
LAURA GUNDERSON
Hybrid owners tick off several benefits of hybrid car ownership -- among them, cutting air pollution, curtailing reliance on fossil fuels and trimming gas expenses.
However, in most cases, it takes years of gas savings for hybrid owners to save money using the cars fueled by gas, electricity or both. The cars, gaining in popularity, still typically cost between $3,000 and $7,000 more than comparable conventional cars.
A typical owner of a 2005 Toyota Prius, which is rated at 60 miles per gallon in the city, would save $545.40 a year on gas and would make up the car's price premium in about five years, according to one calculation.
The owner of a Honda Civic hybrid would save about $205 on gas and would make up the price difference in 32 years. Rated at 46 miles per gallon in the city, the Civic hybrid doesn't offer such a large difference between city gas mileage as its conventional twin.
The calculations are based on the difference in the hybrids' suggested retail purchase price from those of conventional counterparts, the cars' federally rated city mileage, Oregon's current average gas price of $1.80 a gallon for regular unleaded and an assumed 12,000 miles a year in driving.