Believe it or not, the first hybrid vehicle was produced in 1899 by Ferdinand Porsche. It wasn’t until 1997 that hybrid vehicles were mass-produced with the introduction of the

Prius

Toyota

. Today, hybrid vehicles are super popular for US drivers to reduce fuel costs and reduce environmental impact.

We’ll look at the hybrid models Buick offers and provide tips on how to make your drives more sustainable, so let's get started!

MORE:

How to save on your Buick insurance costs

Make safe driving pay

Get rewarded for safe driving. Earn points and unlock benefits. Totally free.

Start earning now

2022 Buick hybrid models guide

Buick is lagging behind its competitors when it comes to hybrids, but its parent company, GM, has pledged to have 30 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. The only hybrid vehicle Buick offered, the

LaCrosse

, was discontinued in 2019 and has yet to be replaced.

Buick didn’t market the LaCrosse as a hybrid vehicle, and even the car’s design downplays its status as a hybrid. You’d be hard-pressed to find marketing, designs, or even signage indicating to a potential driver that the Buick LaCrosse has an electric battery.

The hybrid Buick LaCrosse is marketed as having “eAssist,” a watered-down version of its hybrid capabilities. eAssist kicks into action when the car is at a stop, pulling power from the electric battery instead of the gasoline engine. As far as hybrid vehicles go, the Buick LaCrosse is trailing behind in technology.

The table below breaks down the stats on the average used Buick LaCrosse:

Model	Vehicle type	Average used price	Fuel economy (base trim)
Buick LaCrosse	Sedan	$28,352	25 city/35 highway/29 combined mpg

Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric car: what’s the difference?

You might have heard about plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). These vehicles have larger batteries than standard hybrid vehicles and can function as electric cars when the battery is charged, with the gasoline engine only kicking in when the charge expires. Buick does manufacture one PHEV, the Velite 6, but it is only available in China with no plans yet to be released in the US.

Buick’s hybrid LaCrosse runs primarily on gas. The electric motor kicks in when the vehicle is at a complete stop to power the car’s electric functions, like the radio and air conditioning, and slightly aids in acceleration. You can’t charge this type of battery or run the car off its charge entirely.

Buick is planning to release

one fully electric vehicle

—also exclusive to the Chinese market—called the Velite 7. There’s no word yet how Buick fits into GM’s master plan of releasing 30 electric vehicles by 2025.

MORE:

Car insurance for green vehicles

The best Buick hybrid car

While Buick only offers one hybrid car, there are other hybrid cars available for you to choose from. The best car for you depends on many factors, like budget and even personal preference, but the Buick LaCrosse does stand out for a few reasons.

Best Buick hybrid overall: the Buick LaCrosse

With only one hybrid available, it’s easy to choose what the best Buick hybrid is. The LaCrosse has no rival, because there is none to choose from, so it becomes the de facto “best of” in the category.

What makes the LaCrosse a viable option for a potential hybrid shopper though? The LaCrosse doesn’t feature any confusing technology on the interior or a redundant rearrangement of the dash controls. It looks and drives like the average sedan, making it a top choice for people who are open to hybrid technologies but don’t want to convey the image associated with hybrid owners.

MORE:

How to buy a hybrid car

Make safe driving pay

Get rewarded for safe driving. Earn points and unlock benefits. Totally free.

Start earning now

"I’m earning

awesome rewards

every week, just for driving safe!”

Are Buick hybrids worth it?

Let’s break down what makes the Buick LaCrosse a worthy choice.

Performance

The Buick LaCrosse has been discontinued and revitalized a couple of times. Each time the LaCrosse has been reintroduced, the hybrid technology improves a tiny bit more. Compared to other hybrid models from competitor car manufacturers, you’d be hard-pressed to truly class a LaCrosse as a true hybrid, since its eAssist technology functions more as a means to achieve better fuel economy than perform as a fully hybrid car.

That being said, the non-hybrid LaCrosse is sometimes sluggish due to its size. The eAssist technology helps speed up the LaCrosse, taking it to a 0 to 60 time of 7.8 seconds. This certainly isn’t a time worth writing home about, but it’s also far from the worst speed a sedan of this size could get.

The bottom line is that the LaCrosse is a good choice for people who want to drive luxury-adjacent sedans that have great fuel efficiency.

Reliability

RepairPal gives the Buick LaCrosse a reliability rating of 4/5, making it above average for reliability. A Buick LaCrosse is not prone to major repairs, and the average cost of maintenance per year is $568.

Cost of ownership

While the Buick LaCrosse performs well enough and has great reliability specs, the cost of a new 2019 model was $45,000, which makes finding a used model for under $28,000 a little tricky. How does the cost of ownership add up?

Let’s say you bought a 2019 Buick LaCrosse for the base price of $32,074. Edmunds calculates the five-year cost of ownership as $43,844. That includes:

Insurance: $4,995

Maintenance: $5,991

Repairs: $2,291

Financing: $2,828

Taxes and fees: $3,953

Fuel: $9,031

Depreciation: $14,755

By contrast, the cost of ownership for a non-hybrid 2019 Buick Encore is $42,967. While fuel costs are less expensive on the LaCrosse, the Encore depreciates less, which is what lowers the Encore’s cost of ownership.

Unfortunately, the LaCrosse’s hybrid technology isn’t robust enough to qualify it for

federal tax credits

offered for purchasing hybrid vehicles. That also means it won’t qualify for insurance discounts given to green vehicles.

How to get sustainable rates on car insurance

Still, you can keep your cost of car ownership down by saving on fuel with a Buick LaCrosse. Looking for other ways to save on your car costs? Try shopping for

car insurance

with

Jerry

You probably know how time-consuming and exhausting it is to comparison shop for insurance rates. Thankfully, Jerry has a network of over 50 insurance companies it can tap in less than two minutes to take care of the comparison shopping for you—all you have to do is compare quotes and choose your favorite. Plug your information into the app and be amazed at your savings—more than $800 per year on average!

“I thought my previous insurance rate was the best I could get, since I have a luxury SUV. After
Jerry
found me quotes, I ended up paying only $80 a month for the same exact coverage. I’ll be shopping for auto insurance through Jerry from now on!” —Petra S.

RECOMMENDED

Thousands of customers saved on average $887/year on their car insurance with Jerry

This app is great, but the customer service is even better! Not to mention convenient! My husband and I got the lowest rate (much lower than the rates I was finding online through my own searches), quickly, and pretty much all through text message! Thank you so much for a hassle free experience👍

Gabriella R.

Find insurance savings

4.7/5 Rating on App Store

Do you pay less tax on a hybrid car?

There are

tax credits

available from the federal government to consumers who buy qualifying electric vehicles or PHEVs—up to $7,500.

Does Buick have a hybrid car?

If you’re shopping in the US for a hybrid Buick car, you’ll have to purchase a used LaCrosse. Buick doesn’t currently offer hybrid or electric cars in the US market.

Are you overpaying for car insurance?

Compare quotes and find out in 45 seconds.

Try Jerry