Cool Tool: Gasoline vs. Hybrid Calculator

I dare you to type in your current car versus an alternative fuel or hybrid vehicle and see the difference. It can be pretty significant. Like in our case: I drive to work five days a week with an hour commute each way. (Yes, that actually means I burn 2 hours a day sitting in a frigging car instead of doing something useful, unbelievable.) Anyway, our minivan is no spring chicken and our pickup truck was drinking up gas at last years $4.00 a gallon high. Something had to give. A friend of mine turned me onto hybridcars.com. I think you’ll agree it’s a snazzy little cyber-gadget! You type in the info for the vehicle you’re driving now and then compare it to the hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle of your choice. For us it was our Dodge Dakota pickup vs. the two top-selling hybrids at the time, the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius. The Prius took the prize in every way; lowest emissions and highest MPG. It’s been almost a year since we traded our truck for the hybrid and this cool tool played a big part in our decision. Even if you’re not looking to trade-up, it’s worth checking out just to learn more about your personal energy consumption and fuel costs.