Last week when the Nissan Leaf was announced to be launching in North America this year, the San Fransisco Chronicle had some indepth wisdom. Wisdom that included, price on the environment and price on your pocket. As the purely electric vehicles are costly enough to not reasonable be able to break even on cost of ownership vs a gas powered vehicle, they opted to discuss exactly how much more likely a Hybrid vehicle would be.

They listed through 7 Hybrid cars and their “Years to Break Even”, including Nissan Altima Hybrid “21”, Toyota Prius “20”, Honda Civic Hybrid “17”, Honda Insight “16.5”, Toyota Camry Hybrid “15”, Mercury Milan Hybrid “13” (unavailable for Canada), and the Ford Fusion Hybrid “5.6”.

San Fransico Chronicle:
According to Consumer Reports, the answer is the “crown jewel” of the Fusion family and a very cost-effective hybrid vehicle. This could account for why it took home top honors as the North American Car of Year at the Detroit Auto Show. It provides a similar look and driving experience as the non-hybrid Fusion, but because the price discrepancy between the two models is relatively slim (about $3,200), drivers are likely to break even with the money they save in gas within six years.

Autoblog:
The winner by a long shot is the Ford Fusion Hybrid at a mere 5.6 years. Which car fared worst? The Nissan Altima Hybrid at a whopping 21 years. We have to wonder, 21 years from now, will they still be making batteries for a 2010 Altima Hybrid?