The Canadian Automobile Association has released their annual Driving Cost Guide and once again it shows that hybrids are not the most cost effective vehicles to own.

The CAA Driving Cost Guide takes into account the purchase price, depreciation, insurance, and operating costs.

For the purposes of their study the CAA compared a Toyota Prius with a Chevrolet Cruze and a Dodge Grand Caravan.

Check out the results after the jump.

Based on 18,000km, a Cruze costs $8,883.85 a year to operate, which is 49.4 cents per km. A Prius on the other hand is $9,496.20 or 52.8 cents per km to operate. The gap narrows at 32,000km/year where the Cruze's total cost is $11,333.85 (35.4 cents/km) compared to $11,484.20 (35.9 cents/km) for a Prius.

Overall, the Prius has significantly lower operating costs and if it's driven more the fixed costs (purchase price, depreciation etc.) can be amortized over greater kilometeres, reducing the impact on the total cost.

What do you think? Are hybrids worth the price premium?

Read the complete 2011 Driving Cost Guide.

[Source: AutoNorth]