A little over a year ago, we put the 2007 Nissan Altima hybrid through its paces in the AutoblogGreen Garage. We found the sedan to be a solid performer but left unanswered the question of whether the hybrid cost premium made the ride worth it for everyone. Over at Newsday, Tom Incantalupo similarly enjoyed the Altima hybrid (most likely the 2008 model) but comes out unabashedly in favor of paying the extra money for the hybrid. Back in our Earth Day calculations about hybrid payoff times, we figured it would take 300,000 miles of highway driving (or about 70,000 in the city) to recoup the hybrid Altima's premium. But, as we stated, these numbers don't figure in tax credits, which vary. In this particular case, Incantalupo says, by figuring in the tax credits and using $3.75 as the price point of a gallon of gas (we used $3.50) the Altima hybrid pays for itself in just over three years. There are other variables - hybrids aren't exactly easy to find these days - which you can read about over at Newsday.



[Source: Newsday]

For their first production hybrid vehicle, the Altima, Nissan licensed Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive. At the same time, Nissan announced that they would be developing their own in-house system for introduction in 2010. Several months back rumors surfaced that the system would be used in luxury Infiniti models in addition to Nissans. It now turns out that Nissan executive vice president Mitsuhiko Yamashita told Reuters last month in Detroit that the hybrid system would indeed be used by Infiniti. In fact, it will primarily be used by the premium brand. The approach echoes what General Motors is doing by applying hybrid technology to their thirstier rear wheel drive cars where the actual number of gallons of fuel saved would be greater than in a smaller, inherently more efficient car. Given Toyota's limited success selling Lexus hybrids, it will be interesting to see how Infiniti does. It will also be interesting to see how the hybrid compares to Nissan's new diesel coming in the new Maxima.

[Source: Reuters]