I love cars and have long been interested in the obvious benefits of hybrid (and now EV) technology. Though there is some information about the total cost of ownership on various new vehicles, I have always wanted to see a direct dollar-for-dollar comparison on hybrid vs. regular vehicles. This isn’t easy to find, so I decided to just make one!
The idea here is that the primary cost differences between a gasoline-only vehicle and its hybrid counterpart (i.e., Toyota RAV4 LE vs Toyota RAV4 Hybrid LE) are in the initial purchase price and the annual cost of gasoline. The Hybrid will always be more expensive to purchase, but less expensive in terms of gas consumed annually. Which one makes more sense over time?
Well, this script measures the number of years you would need to drive the hybrid version in order to recoup its higher purchase price in gasoline savings, by measuring user input on combined mileage, MSRP, annual miles driven, and current gasoline price.
Here’s the code, and a link to download the file and try it for yourself is below!
