There comes a time during the research process when you’ve narrowed your options to two or three hybrid vehicles and you simply want to see them in a side-by-side comparison. Whether you are comparing price, gas mileage, towing capacity, seating options, or any number of specifications - it’s most helpful when you don’t have to switch back and forth between 2 or more reviews or test drives.

When you are researching hybrids, there are several comparison websites that can make the process a little easier. Below is an overview of a few that might be of interest.

1.  Edmunds has a slick comparison tool here, and while it isn’t exclusive to hybrid vehicles it offers a lot of flexibility and options including the ability to compare up to 5 vehicles at the same time. You can also create a comparison between vehicles built in differing years. For example, a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid compared to a 2009 Toyota Highlander hybrid.

2. HybridCenter.org has a tool here.  You can select two or more hybrid vehicles from a number of categories (compact, midsize, SUV, etc.) as well as how many miles you typically drive and how much of that driving is done in the city vs. the highway. The comparison results are impressive and easy to understand, often showing 2wd and 4wd models of the vehicles you selected.  Unfortunately, the vehicle options are not up-to-date. For instance, you can only choose the old style Honda Insight and you can’t compare the 2010 Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion hybrid, Lexus 450h or several others.

3. You can try out the Cars.com comparison tool at this address. Like many others, it isn’t just for green cars. One nice option is that you can easily compare older vehicles (in many cases all the way back to 1997). Unfortunately, there seem to be a few gaps in the coverage. For example, I couldn’t find a 2005 Ford Escape hybrid (didn’t they make one back then?). While the results don’t show as many comparisons as some other sites reviewed here, you get the most important stuff like MSRP and fuel economy.

4. MSN.com has some useful information about hybrid SUVs and cars, including their own version of a comparison tool here. A few unique features include being able to compare photos and in some cases 360 degree surround videos. It also shows you MSN expert review numbers, MSN user ratings, and reviews from Consumer Reports.

5. Kelly Blue Book changes things up a bit by letting you compare used hybrids (or non hybrid vehicles) here. I gave that a whirl since I hadn’t seen this functionality on other comparison sites. When I checked a used 2005 Escape hybrid (I knew they built one that year!) to a preowned 2006 Highlander hybrid, I was able to see the Used Car Blue Book suggested retail price (based on typically equipment). Quite a difference by the way…$16,000 vs. $26,000 respectively.

6. HybridCars.com recently rolled out a green car comparison tool, although I couldn’t find a link to it on their homepage yet. The announcement is here along with two links to some pre-designed hybrid vehicle comparisons. I’m guessing this is a soft launch and that we will see the full link soon, but for now you can follow the hybrid SUV comparison link (default is Escape hybrid compared to Vue hybrid compared to Highlander hybrid) and then you can modify the comparison vehicles. Like the MSN Autos comparison, this tool does a nice job of letting you compare photos. If fact, clicking on images lets you see a larger size photo comparison (which is much better than what you can learn from the thumbnails).

I’m betting there are many other hybrid car and SUV comparison sites and tools online, so if you know of any good ones, please add them in the comments below.