According to Edmunds.com's "True Cost to Own" calculator, in the Austin area (driving for 5 years at 15k miles per year and then selling):

Honda Civic Hybrid = $34,775

Honda Civic EX (Auto) = $33,729

Honda Civic LX (Auto) = $32,105

With those numbers, the HCH comes across as simply the next step up in the Civic line, not as an exorbitant price increase.

That's also for a fairly light driving load in a region with a relatively low gas price (not up to $3/gal yet!). Drive more, for more years, or on the east or west coasts, and the Civic Hybrid pays for itself.

I think the numbers would work out even better for the Prius, if there were a non-hybrid model for comparison. Our Prius (bought new about a year ago) is actually saving us money on car payment + insurance + gas + maintenance costs relative to the used 2003 Subaru we owned before it!

Why?

1. Fuel Costs (duh!)

2. Maintenance Costs - hybrids put less wear on the engine, almost no wear on the brake pads, and at least for the Prius, have no transmission to maintain.

3. Insurance Costs - studies have shown that hybrid drivers, in our efforts to save gas, drive less adventurously than our conventional-driving contemporaries. We get in fewer collisions and so the insurance companies let us get away with lower premiums.

4. Higher resale - now that questions of battery longevity seem to be somewhat answered, and with many hybrids "flying off the shelves", people are willing to pay more for a used hybrid than a used conventional.

It adds up.