Changing to hybrid cars instead of conventional petrol or diesel engined ones could save you a great deal of money. You could realistically cut your fuel bill by anywhere between 25 to 50 per cent. If you are currently driving an SUV and change to a similar hybrid model you could see an average $3,000 fuel bill reduced to $1,500 or even under a thousand dollars if you go instead for one of the smaller, though still reasonably sized hybrid cars.

One of the arguments against hybrid cars, and also one of the reasons that many were reluctant to make the change was price. Hybrid cars are inevitably more expensive to buy than conventional cars due to the fact that they an electric motor as well as a petrol engine.

This, however may be due to change with the new tax breaks for hybrid cars. In any case the difference is much less than it used to be, with some hybrid cars costing as little as $1,000 more than their conventional counterparts. This would be likely, with a normal amount of mileage, to be more than saved in fuel costs in the first year.

Now the hoped for tax breaks for hybrid cars have emerged the cost of the vehicles should be more on a par with the standard road going model and these savings should be money in the bank. And would encourage a previously skeptical public view the benefits of hybrid cars as being financial as well as environmental. This would encourage a much wider ownership which in turn may drive prices lower again as cost per unit decreases with the economy of scale that mass production can bring.

So hybrid cars may soon be not only good for the environment but also good for your wallet as well. And hopefully in the near future, hybrid cars may be, with the falling price and ever increasing fuel efficiency, not only marginally, but a substantially cheaper and cleaner alternative for the financially and environmentally conscious driver.