Most (and least) cost-effective hybrids

How much it costs to save a gallon of gas varies widely, even among closely-related vehicles.

Lexus GS450h
Lexus GS450h
Hybrid value rank: 10
Time to recoup premium in fuel savings alone: 10.8 years
Typical price: $54,900

Compared to: GS460

Hybrid cost premium: $2,280 (Based on Edmunds.com "True Market Value." No tax credits are available on Lexus vehicles.)

Overall mpg vs. non-hybrid: 24 vs. 21.6

Annual fuel savings: $212 (68 gallons)

Realizing that most consumers, especially among luxury car buyers, are more concerned with prestige and "sending a message" than fuel economy, Toyota has always emphasized performance in its Lexus hybrids rather than just fuel economy. Consequently, Lexus cars do rather poorly if you're looking at cost-effectiveness. The GS450h does deliver impressive acceleration on top of its 2.4 mile per gallon boost in fuel economy.

AOL Autos: Vehicle details


Costs

Prius

Malibu

Camry

Escape

Vue

Mariner

Civic

Altima

Aura

GS450h

RX400h

Highlander

LS600h
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.