Can a SUV Get 36 MPG?

Want to save gas? Buy a hybrid car! With gasoline prices jammed at the $2 per gallon mark, these ultra-geeky vehicles are riding a wild wave of popularity. It's no wonder that hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid have become the hot ticket. So how much gas (and money) can you save driving a hybrid car? I've taken the trouble to do a little math to figure it all out ...

Lets take a fairly extreme example: if you drive 30,000 miles per year in a vehicle that gets 15 miles per gallon, you'll use approximately 2,000 gallons of gas per year. If you're paying an average of $2.00 per gallon, that'll cost you a tidy $4,000 per year.

Now lets say that you trade in that 15 MPG gas-guzzler for a thrifty hybrid car that pulls down an average of 60 MPG, like the Honda Insight. That same 30,000 miles per year would require just 500 gallons of gas and a mere $1,000 of charges at the pump. While you might feel pretty good about doing your part for national security by reducing our dependence on imported oil, you'll feel even better about saving $3,000 per year in gasoline costs.

Is 60 MPG a reality? The 2004 Toyota Prius has an EPA estimate of 60 city/51 highway/55 combined (and you can get it with Bluetooth). The Honda Insight boasts an EPA estimate of 60 city/66 highway.

Here's where the money thing gets even better.

If you take that $3,000 in savings and divide it by 12, you just found $250 a month that could be going to your car payments.

Want to make it even more attractive? Check this out ...

The U.S. Government may even pay you to drive a hybrid car. That's right. Money from the Fed. If you qualify, you can claim a clean-fuel vehicle federal tax deduction of up to fifteen hundred smackers this year. $1,500 to buy a new car? It might sound crazy ... check out the IRS web site ... but act quickly, the tax deduction for hybrid vehicles falls to $1,000 next year.

If the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, or Honda Civic Hybrid aren't your cup of tea, sit tight. A whole new crop of hybrid cars are about to make the scene. Honda has announced an Accord Hybrid and Ford has something that should set the market on its ear.

Ford is the first American automaker to put hybrid propulsion into a SUV. The new 4x2 Ford Escape Hybrid promises to deliver 36 MPG in the city and 31 MPG on the highway. That same 30,000 mile commute should cost you half as much in the Escape Hybrid as it does in a gas-guzzling SUV.

For folks that love their SUV but hate the lousy mileage, the Ford Escape Hybrid just might be aptly named ...