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Use The Vehicle Eco-Calculator To Determine The Most Ecological and Economical Car

July 10, 2008

Thinking of buying a car soon? How about a hybrid? My marketing team recently created an online tool for our executive leadership to use during the decision-making for future company fleet vehicle purchases. We labeled the tool a “vehicle eco-calculator” because it compares both the ecological and economical impact of two vehicles.

Hybrid vehicles with better fuel economy typically cost more than their gas-guzzling counterparts, which can make the decision to purchase one more difficult. This eco-calculator will calculate a specific breakeven point, or how many months it will take for you to recover the added cost of buying a hybrid. After that point, you’re putting money back in your pocket.

Realizing the value of this tool to everyone, we shared it companywide and now I’m sharing it with my readers. If you find it useful, feel free to pass it along.

The tool can be found at www.leopardo.com/vec. Simply enter a few variables about the two cars you’re considering and press calculate. The results will tell you the estimated annual gas cost and carbon dioxide emissions. More importantly, the analysis section will explain your annual fuel savings, unreleased emissions per year and the ROI payback period.

UPDATE: We’re on DIGG, so please stop by and digg it, post comments, etc.

On digg, I left a comment that I think, in part, is worth repeating here:

The Toyota Camry Hybrid costs, on average, about $4,000 more than the non-hybrid version. First costs may discourage many folks from purchasing a hybrid, but the Camry Hybrid will start returning a profit after 54 months (less than five years), according to the Vehicle Eco-Calculator (based on 20,000 miles per year driven and $4.21/gallon gas, which are both variables you can adjust in the calculator). When the 2008 Camry Hybrid is compared to the 2008 Ford Taurus, using price data from Edmunds.com and fuel economy data from fueleconomy.gov, the hybrid costs $2000 more but you’ll start putting money back in your pocket after 18 months with the hybrid.

As more and more alternative fuel vehicles are introduced - likely at higher sticker prices - this Vehicle Eco-Calculator will help compare them to gasoline vehicles and even other green cars. For instance, fuel cell cars can be compared to electric or hydrogen-powered cars, which can be compared to hybrids, etc., etc. - all to determine the most economical and ecological impact.

Filed Under Educational, Green, Links, Management, Personal Finance

Comments

3 Responses to “Use The Vehicle Eco-Calculator To Determine The Most Ecological and Economical Car”

Gavin Heaton on July 11th, 2008 6:18 pm

Awesome tool, Todd! Thanks for sharing.

toddand on July 11th, 2008 9:30 pm

Thanks, Gavin. And thanks for the plug on your site! Much appreciated.

Mario Vellandi on July 15th, 2008 3:17 pm

Hi Todd,
Thanks for the heads up on this most interesting tool!

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