Business: Are hybrid vehicles economical?

Short answer: it depends.

Assumptions:
Regular car getting 25 miles per gallon
Hybrid car getting 40 miles per gallon
Utilizing the vehicle for 100,000 miles
Gasoline costing $4 per gallon
Comparable repair costs
Comparable insurance costs

The hybrid car saves $6000 in fuel costs.

Change the assumption of gas to $5 per gallon and the hybrid car saves $7500 in fuel costs.

At the moment, hybrid vehicles cost more than regular vehicles. Thus, fuel savings may or may not balance the initial purchase cost.

Also, I don't know if the repair costs and insurance costs are actually identical.