NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Interested in a car that helps the environment while cutting U.S dependence on foreign oil? Or, if you're not that politically minded, how about just saving money on gas?

Hybrid cars, with both gas and electric motors, do all that with super-low emissions and near-50 mpg gas mileage. That may be why about 60 percent of new car buyers say they would consider a hybrid according to a survey by automotive research firm J.D. Power and Associates.

There's no difference between driving a hybrid car and a regular, gas-only vehicle. They supply their own electricity and never need to be plugged in. Instead, the cars' spinning wheels recharge the batteries while the car is braking or decelerating, essentially recycling energy that ordinarily goes to waste.

In Honda's Insight and Civic Hybrid the gasoline engine is always powering the car; the electric motor kicks in when hill-climbing or hard acceleration hard calls for extra boost. The Toyota Prius, however, can operate on either gas or electric motor or both.

For instance, when the Prius is waiting at a stoplight, the gasoline engine completely shuts off to save fuel. When the light turns green, the electric motor starts the Prius moving, then the gas engine kicks in shortly afterward. Gauges in both Honda and Toyota vehicles show you current mileage, average mileage since you reset the trip odometer and whether the batteries are recharging or supplying power -- a kind of video game for mileage-minded adults.

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The introduction of the Civic Hybrid moved hybrids into a new phase -- putting the technology into cars people already know.

Now other auto makers are planning to bring out hybrid versions of popular models, starting next year with Ford's small SUV, the Escape. Analyst Thad Malesh of J.D. Power predicts that total hybrid sales could reach 500,000 by 2007 (compared to a likely hybrid total of about 45,000 in the next 12 months).

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service has ruled that taxpayers who buy a hybrid-electric vehicle will be eligible for a tax deduction of up to $2,000. That will help make up the difference in initial cost; for instance the Civic Hybrid costs about $2,500 more than a similarly-equipped gasoline Civic EX.

Honda Civic Hybrid Depending on your mood, you could brag to your friends about the technology in the Civic Hybrid or just blend in with the automotive crowd. The Hybrid looks pretty much like other Civic sedans except for a rear spoiler and a slightly different grille. Roomy enough for four adults, it has a full range of convenience features from power windows to cruise control and remote locking.

My white test car with a beige interior blended right in on the highway as well. With a typically-silky Honda five-speed stick shift, it took me cruising right up the Palisades Parkway north of New York City with plenty of acceleration to get out of the way of the big SUVs native to those suburban parts. Only when trying to accelerate and go uphill at the same time did I need to shift down to fourth gear -- not good for the gas mileage but some habits die hard.

Watching the gas mileage readouts was so entertaining I had to be careful not to be too distracted. When I set the trip odometer for only the highway portion of my test drive, the mileage averaged 52.9 mpg. For the entire run, including city streets, it was 45.3. That's not far off the EPA ratings of 51 mpg highway and 46 mpg city with the manual shift (47 on the highway and 48 in town with the automatic). In comparison, a gas-only Civic EX automatic is rated 30 mpg in the city, 38 on the highway.

The manual Civic Hybrid I drove costs $20,010; with automatic transmission that is $21,010 including destination charge. That compares with a similarly equipped automatic gas-only EX sedan price of $18,520.

Toyota Prius Unlike the Civic Hybrid, the Prius makes itself noticed. "That's the electric car, isn't it?" asked a Manhattan parking garage attendant who wanted to talk about how it worked. Prius styling, with a tall roof, high rear end and low, sloping nose borrows a bit from the compact Toyota Echo (though it's priced more like a mid-sized Camry). A four-seater with plenty of room, the Prius gives a slightly smoother ride than the Civic but doesn't quite match the Civic's crisp handling.

Though it has all the acceleration you need for highway cruising, the Prius occasionally reminds you of its battery-powered pedigree. Hitting the accelerator for a lane-change speedup generates thumps and whirs as the electric engine kicks in for an extra boost. Starting off as a red light goes green, you glide silently on electric power until the gas engine kicks in.

This ability to operate at times only on the electric motor boosts mileage and leads to the seemingly-backward EPA rating of 52 mpg in city driving, 45 on the highway. According to the Prius readouts (shown on a video-style screen also used by the optional navigation system) my highway driving exceeded the government's rating -- averaging about 55 mpg. The Prius, which comes only with automatic transmission, lists for $20,475. With options including the satellite navigation system, my test car had a sticker price of $22,966.

Honda Insight It's sleek. (See the picture at the top of this story.) It's fun. The mileage is great. But unlike the Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius, the Insight just isn't practical. Its large battery pack takes up most of what would be the back seat, and so makes this a strictly a two-seater with very little cargo space. (Honda uses the same technology for the Civic Hybrid but has shrunk the batteries enough to put them out of sight in the trunk).

The narrow tires save weight and boost mileage, but make for a bumpy ride. The EPA rates the Insight with manual shift at 68 mpg on the highway, 61 in the city, though I averaged only in the high 50s. (With automatic, Insight ratings are 57 mpg city, 56 highway). The stick-shift Insight lists for $20,740; automatic transmission adds $1,000 more.