Bank of America is offering its employees an unusual benefit - $3,000 in cash for buying a new hybrid vehicle. A rebate on a new car is a common incentive from manufacturers. But hybrids are prompting a twist on that practice: An increasing number of environmentally minded companies outside the auto sector, including Google, are helping to incent sales. They are offering employees a bonus of sorts for getting a hybrid instead of a less fuel-efficient alternative. Bank of America announced Feb. 2 that its more than 185,000 U.S. employees would be eligible to receive the $3,000 reimbursement.

Hybrids generally use less fuel by combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor, which in some models can act as the only means of propulsion at low speeds. Thus, hybrids can reduce both pollution and the expense of commuting. But they cost more to buy than their conventional counterparts - from $3,000 to $6,000 extra, depending on the model.
Rebates like the one from Bank of America can make hybrid prices more equitable, particularly when combined with federal tax credits of up to $3,400.

In what could be the ultimate coup for BoA employees could be Toyota's once red-hot Prius. The Prius, which has been one of the country's fastest selling vehicles (measured in time spent on the dealer lot) for the past three years, has seen its sales start to cool off. And the days of paying over MSRP for the Prius are also over. As a result, Toyota is now offering 0% financing and $219/month 36-month leases for the Prius. Throw in a $1,575 tax credit from the federal government and a $3,000 rebate from BoA and the $22,175 Prius doesn't look so bad anymore -- at least from a pricing perspective