Hybrid Cars Finally Worth Considering

Until recently, I harbored mixed feelings about hybrid cars.  On the one hand, they decreased fuel consumption significantly, while on the other, they were very expensive, and entailed more parts than a standard combustion engine car, which translates to more maintenance costs down the road.  I would never have recommended that anyone buy one.  At best, an environmentally conscious consumer could undertake a lease, pay a bit more in total costs, but feel they'd done a small service for the atmosphere.

In 2012, it seems to me that hybrids have rounded the bend, and crossed a very significant threshold.  In some cases, it appears that the purchase of a hybrid is, in addition to environmentally considerate, cost beneficial.

A new technology like hybrids had a lot going against it in the early going.  Purchase prices were high since production quantities were low and R&D costs were significant.  Also, new technologies are less reliable than tried and true ones; they have not been through the iterations that come through multiple generations of development.