I have tried to keep track of this from the time I started driving my hybrid. I log every tank of gas (mileage, cost, what the computer says my mileage is, plus what my actual mileage is....the HCHII compter is pretty accurate) then I compare what it would have cost to drive my Chevy Colorado pickup (which gets right at 20 mpg). From Oct 2007 to present, I haved saved almost $600 in gas....not enough to make the payments, but it will make my pickup last longer and in about 2 years my daughter will start driving. I'll give her the hybrid (and get another !)

 

Hmm.. no need to keep track of savings.

All I need to do is fill up the Pilot once a month and growl at the gas bill.

 

Here is a case in point, I believe this to be a good example of what a hybrid can save you. Granted, if you were going from a gas guzzler to a hybrid you are saving money, I'm not disputing that, I'm just saying compared to a similar car this is the "actual" savings.

 

 

In my case the reason I bought a another car was my commute was changing from around 18 miles round trip to around 80 miles. So it's not always the case that distances remain the same, as well as fuel cost. I believe fuel was just under $2 when I bought the hybrid. So if I calculate what it would cost for a car prior to that, my gas bill would be against gas costing less than $2 a gallon.

Anyway, don't get me wrong, I understand what your calculation shows in savings but your numbers and my numbers can show that owning a hybrid can cost you money instead of saving you money. But if we normalize, both cases show a savings.

 

Whether folks want to include their old car in calculating savings (or not) is fine with me.

Personally speaking, if I hadn't bought my HCH back in 2004 I would NOT have persued economy driving.

2nd runner up was a Dodge Neon. (I'm an ex Dodge die-hard)
No doubt @ 111,000 miles would had a lifetime MPG of around 18 and completely wore out.

Compare that to my hybrid which is 50's and 60's MPG and starts/runs/drives as new.

-Steve

 

Steve -

I totally agree with you, that I would not have even thought twice about my driving style, had I not bought a Hybrid.

I definitely take a much more defensive driving style when I'm in my HCH as compared to all the cars in my past. I used to be the one doing 85/90 up I95 passing everyone up, trying to find the quickest route to save a few minutes on my trip.

I was going to comment about how back when I was younger, blah blah blah, but in reality, i'm only 26 so have only been driving for 10 years. I just didn't wanna make all you old guys feel that much older .

 

Hey....I resemble that remark! I drove like that until I was 46 (that's when I got my hybrid!) I'm still a little bit Dr Jeckly and Mr Hyde.....I really do a good job in my hybrid (lifetime FE 55.8 mpg), but when I get in my pickup.....I have to transfer some of my good habits to my pickup driving as well. (It gets right at 20 mpg, if I really try, I could probably get it up to 25 or even a bit better!)

 

i can make a pretty straight comparison to my last vehicle, which was a 2004 honda CRV, which i bought new in 2004. at the time i was already slowing down my driving after having read that anything above 60MPG tends to reduce fuel economy. however, as hard as i tried, i could never get the thing much above 22MPG, especially in a minnesota winter.

in the fall of 2005, the gas prices spike after katrina, and went to just about $3. i have a 40 mile commute one way, and was filling up several times a week. it was getting to the point where i was spending as much on gas as my payment.

i traded for my 05 HCH at that time. i started out driving much the same, but as i learned what the car could do, i started hypermiling.

assuming that gas was at $3.05 the entire time, which it wasn't, but it's been close:

26,000 miles a year
CRV at 22MPG = 1181 gallons/year X 3.05 = $3604

HCH at 54MPG - 481 gallons/year x 3.05 - $1468.

i expect that to get even better in the spring when i can put my regular tires back on and take off the snows. that 54 is my all time average. this fall before it got really cold i have learned a few more tricks and regularly get a daily average over 60.

 

Any of you hypermilers coming to Delaware???

I'd like to ride with you guys on my daily commute, to see what you tend to do differently. Given the fact that my work commute, and just about everywhere else I go, is within 5 miles, I think my average around 43-45 is pretty darn good. Just curious to see what else I could learn from yall (and that's to be pronounce with one syllable lol).

On a side note, I did buy some pipe insulation (on comments from other users here) and was wondering how you guys secured yours into place in the grill for blocking the cold winter wind. Today, I stopped at a red light, and actually watched my temperature bars drop by 2!! THere was a little grumbling from me after watching that, but then the light turned green and I got to start moving again.

Matt