Hybrids are getting a lot more attention as gas prices go up. Now you see more and more of the popular but ugly Toyota Prius on the roads. Hybrids are good cars because they get great fuel mileage but its limited to the city. Once you get out on the freeway you will see very little difference between a hybrid model car and its regular non hybrid model.

If you do mostly city driving a hybrid is a great choice as it gains electricity back with regenerative breaking. This means when you stop it uses generators to gain back energy as you stop. When you are not stopping and going like on the freeway you can see why Hybrids do not do well on freeways.On a freeway you might not like a Hybrid being they usually have like a 1.3 liter gas motor that will be powering you. They use a small motor so it does not burn much gas and at freeways speeds you wont have much passing power.

There is another way to get good fuel mileage and you wont have to worry about any of these set backs the hybrids have. What I am talking about is a diesel vehicle. Diesel engines are more efficient than gas engines but you don't usually see them in cars but in big trucks. In Europe diesel engines are very popular but in America they are not. As fuel prices go up they are starting to make more sense in the USA too.

One diesel car the Jetta Beetle can get 50 miles per gallon without any hybrid technology! The same goes for the other 2 models Jetta makes that runs on diesel. All 3 models get great fuel mileage and have none of the set backs a hybrid has. These are not the stinky diesels of the past but clean diesels of the future. One guy even did some minor modifications to a diesel beetle and he is getting a steady 70+ miles per gallon! He added a different spoiler and a free flow catalytic converter among other things and that was all it took.

A Jetta is also a good bit cheaper than a Hybrid and you never have to replace batteries. Honda may bring over a diesel in the near future, the Honda Civic Diesel! If you want good fuel mileage without hybrid set backs take a look into a diesel car. They might just save you a lot of money!

Diesel Jetta