Should I buy a hybrid SUV if I mostly drive short trips in the city?

Yes — a hybrid SUV is usually a good fit if most of your driving is short city trips, especially stop-and-go errands and commuting. Hybrids tend to shine in city driving because they can recover energy while braking, use the gas engine less at low speeds, and often deliver better fuel economy than a comparable gas-only SUV in urban use.

The main caveat: don’t buy one expecting long electric-only driving unless it’s a plug-in hybrid. A regular hybrid’s battery may only support very short low-speed electric operation, so the benefit comes from efficiency across repeated stops and starts, not from driving around like a full EV.

Buy a hybrid SUV if you want lower fuel use in the city, fewer gas-station stops, and don’t want to worry about charging. Consider a plug-in hybrid instead if you can charge at home and want to do many short trips on electricity. Stick with a gas SUV if the hybrid version costs much more and you drive too few miles to make the savings matter.