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Buying a $60,000 hybrid car to cut driving costs makes sense the way putting Mrs. H. Ross Perot into the workforce makes sense: The Perot family finances improve, but the improvement is the size of a rounding error.
Still, there are plenty of other reasons to covet the Lexus GS 450h, not the least of which is that hybrid technology makes this one of the fastest four-passenger cars you can buy in the U.S.
The GS 450h fuel economy falls into the mid-twenties: Not so good for a distant cousin to the Toyota Prius, and pretty darn miserly for a 4,134-pound vehicle that reaches 60 mph in 5.2 seconds.
A hybrids electric motor, big battery, and smaller-than-normal engine yield the same performance as a similar non-hybrid car, and superior fuel economy, by regenerating power back into the storage battery when the car slows or brakes.
The electric motor starts the car from stops made while driving, and provides extra power when accelerating.