the civic hybrid gets only 8-10% increase but on more fuel efficient cars its much harder

b/c the normal gm pickup was such a gas guzzler and had some $100 fillups per tank it may save the owner ~$400-$500 / year depending on driving (fleets will like it b/c they put large amounts of miles on trucks and it would make up for the increase in cost).

the only problem is gm has no proven ability to produce this drivetrain...no concepts or test beds...i'd be worried until a few years later and all the kinks get worked out in the real world