Six (Lame) Excuses Not to Buy a Hybrid

“6. It's going to break down and be worth nothing in a few years”

Since hybrids use batteries, many people are under the impression that after a while, the battery will lose its effectiveness, and the car will be worthless, or require an expensive battery replacement.

“The battery-replacement concern for hybrids is a common one, but it’s unfounded,” Says Karl Brauer, CEO of TotalCarScore.com. “While the battery packs in hybrids do lose their charge capacity over time, the rate of loss is low and it has a minimal effect on a hybrid’s overall fuel efficiency.”

Brauer explains that it’s not uncommon for a hybrid to go over 100,000 miles without any loss in its charge capacity. “Better still, most hybrid models offer excellent warranty coverage on the battery pack,” he says.

If you’re still uneasy, automakers offer extremely generous standard warrantees on hybrids. Toyota has an 8-year/100,000 mile warranty on the Prius, which also works if you’re not the original owner of the car. Hyundai also has a long warranty for hybrids at 10 year 100,000 miles.

This means that resale values shouldn’t be affected by these concerns. In fact, historically the Prius has won numerous resale value awards.

“As a result, resale value on hybrid models is about on par with the equivalent non-hybrid vehicle,” said Brauer. “There can be some variation between models, but in general hybrids do as well or better than traditional vehicles in terms of resale value.”

With hybrid technology constantly advancing, the future of hybrid vehicles is very bright. New hybrids will have more advanced batteries, more electric motors and updated transmissions. Other automakers have started selling plug-in hybrids, cars that don’t use gas motors to power the drive-wheels. These kinds of hybrids use the most advanced technology, but aren’t as refined as current gas-electric hybrids. With so many options out there, there’s almost no excuse to not consider a hybrid vehicle for your next car.