You can already go and buy a standard Civic that will get 36mpg overall from “typical” American driving. If you don't drive it like you stole it constantly (read: “typical” American driving) then that number will go up.

Yes, it's great they boosted the city number so much for this car. The point is, though, that the people that get the most benefit out of a hybrid won't be driving something this large…they already bought scooters, motorcycles and subcompacts which trump this mileage.

In the long run you aren't saving the environment, and while you saved all that money on gas, you just dumped it all back out on an extra battery and electronics. That $5,300 could have bought you almost 1,300 gallons of 87 octane gasoline…enough gas to drive the thing 44,000 miles, in which time your average soccer mom will have traded it back in for a new plug-in Prius

If you buy it for the 3 mpg improvement for highway mileage…well…go retake an economics class. You'll never see the return of that extra $5,300 over a base Camry at the pump.

For the camp that does it to “be green”…go look at what goes in to those batteries and see what they do to the earth after they are disposed.

Drive the speed limit and voila, your gas consumption magically decreases! I'm not saying hybrids are a bad idea, but there are so many more economically and environmentally viable steps one can take before they go dump 5-6 grand more on a car with an extra battery.