Prius Enviromentally Worse Then Hummer?

[goodcase]

The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ?green car? is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer.

Before we delve into the seedy underworld of hybrids, you must first understand how a hybrid works. For this, we will use the most popular hybrid on the market, the Toyota Prius.

The Prius is powered by not one, but two engines: a standard 76 horsepower, 1.5-liter gas engine found in most cars today and a battery- powered engine that deals out 67 horsepower and a whooping 295ft/lbs of torque, below 2000 revolutions per minute. Essentially, the Toyota Synergy Drive system, as it is so called, propels the car from a dead stop to up to 30mph. This is where the largest percent of gas is consumed. As any physics major can tell you, it takes more energy to get an object moving than to keep it moving. The battery is recharged through the braking system, as well as when the gasoline engine takes over anywhere north of 30mph. It seems like a great energy efficient and environmentally sound car, right?

You would be right if you went by the old government EPA estimates, which netted the Prius an incredible 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 miles per gallon on the highway. Unfortunately for Toyota, the government realized how unrealistic their EPA tests were, which consisted of highway speeds limited to 55mph and acceleration of only 3.3 mph per second. The new tests which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second. This has dropped the Prius?s EPA down by 25 percent to an average of 45mpg. This now puts the Toyota within spitting distance of cars like the Chevy Aveo, which costs less then half what the Prius costs.

However, if that was the only issue with the Prius, I wouldn?t be writing this article. It gets much worse.

Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ?dead zone? around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius? battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist?s nightmare.

?The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,? said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn?t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ?nickel foam.? From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?

Wait, I haven?t even got to the best part yet.

When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius?s arch nemesis.

Through a study by CNW Marketing called ?Dust to Dust,? the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

So, if you are really an environmentalist - ditch the Prius. Instead, buy one of the most economical cars available - a Toyota Scion xB. The Scion only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still obsessed over gas mileage - buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot.

One last fun fact for you: it takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses.

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/e....asp?NewsID=188

[drshdw]

Yeah, but the batteries are renewable. Gasoline is not. If that nickel didn't go in the battery, it'd go somewhere else, same thing. However, gas is running out PLUS it doesn't run as clean. Obviously factories produce the most CO2 output, even in the US, cars represent a small portion of the CO2 output.

[Vandalsquad]

Ah, thats a nice bunch of bullsh*t is this just something they pump out of the printer and give to you when your buying a SUV? :laugh:

[bdsams Veteran]

provides an interesting alternative, albeit his biggest point is the dirty plant it comes from...fix that and fix the issue, also this is only step 1 in making better battery powered vehicles....over time the tides will change

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

The production of the Nickel in the Toyota Prius batteries is what causes significant damage to the environment. Makes sense, the sulphur dioxide emissions are a plague. Then again, the samething could apply to pretty much any plant that produces metal.

Edited March 15, 2007 by Section 31

[madd_matt]

Sudbury is cleaning up drastically as well.

There is vegetation back again!

I think the nickel plant stuff hasn't really been true since the 80s.

I'm a few hundred clicks from sudbury, and don't pay a ton of attention, so of course I could be wrong.

[robsleezy]

Anywho i prefer burning 91 octane 4 times a week in my SRT4 and on the weekends twice in the SRT/10 haha

[Leddy]

Yeah, but the batteries are renewable. Gasoline is not. If that nickel didn't go in the battery, it'd go somewhere else, same thing. However, gas is running out PLUS it doesn't run as clean. Obviously factories produce the most CO2 output, even in the US, cars represent a small portion of the CO2 output.

Batteries aren't renewable, they're rechargable. Once they start screwing up and need replacement, disposing of the battery is more of a pollutant than all your gasoline added up.

[goodcase]

Anywho i prefer burning 91 octane 4 times a week in my SRT4 and on the weekends twice in the SRT/10 haha

did you honestly reply just to flaunt your neon and viper?

[noroom]

did you honestly reply just to flaunt your neon and viper?

I think so, lol... He must have a tiny member :rofl:

[Roomiestdruid]

The new tests which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second.

Anyone else happen to sit and think about that little bit for a second? 8mph per second would mean, from standstill, you're doing 0-60 in 7.5 seconds and 0-80 in 10. So everyone these days drives a car capable of 0-60 in under 8 seconds and goes about the act of flooring it to 60 at every stop light? :p

The Prius isnt even capable of acceleration at that speed. Maybe it can accelerate at that speed when at speed, but definitely not from standstill. its a double-digiter iirc.

[TheNay]

I rented a Prius last fall, went from Toronto, ON to Winnipeg, MB (thru Chicago, IL) it costed $110.

In a average car it would cost around $220 or more (according to the mappoint program, and used figures from http://www.fueleconomy.gov)

I don't care if the Prius makes more pollutants to make or to dispose the battery, it saves gas big time and more money in my wallet ;) The companies should find a way to dispose of these better, it's not in my hands.

[Lexcyn]

Sudbury is cleaning up drastically as well.

There is vegetation back again!

I think the nickel plant stuff hasn't really been true since the 80s.

I'm a few hundred clicks from sudbury, and don't pay a ton of attention, so of course I could be wrong.

I live in Sudbury and yes, we have vegetation back. :p And while nickel plants do cause environmental hazards, with modern technology they have taken drastic steps to clean up nickel production (ie: new SO2 filtering methods, safer extraction procedures, etc.)

[halcyoncmdr]

The problem here is that the article makes it seem that all hybrids are worse than the Hummer, ven though the author only mentions the Prius by name. There is more than one type of hybrid system, not just the Synergy Drive. A perfect example of this is the way that Honda uses the batteries as an assist to the gasoline engine, while still getting gas mileage just as good as the Prius. Having the batteries run the car from 0-30 is not the only way to run a hybrid vehicle, and isn't necessarily the best.

Also, the author constantly mentions the factory that makes the parts, that factory would still make the parts whether it went into the Prius or not; that is like saying that cancer is caused by visiting the cancer hospital.

These kinds of articles just help to keep the world reliant on petroleum products because they make people think that their Hummer is better for the environment, so there are no steps forward to fix anything. :no:

[Flae_qui]

you do know if those little battery cars ever get into a car accident a HAZMAT team has to arrive 1st and secure the area before they are save you from the car... nah i'll keep putting 93 in my GT and having a better chance @ life if something bad happens

[SacrificialSoldier]

Batteries are not better! Yest they save gas but batteries require electricity, to get electricity we burn fossil fuel! Just a big circle right back to the gas! Unless you use a solar panel or any other renewable energy.

[Shibby]

Batteries are not better! Yest they save gas but batteries require electricity, to get electricity we burn fossil fuel! Just a big circle right back to the gas! Unless you use a solar panel or any other renewable energy.

Thats a pretty good point. No matter what, pretty much most of our production of electricity produces problems.

We have to some how see if it's better to produce electric or burn the fossil fuel. This i do not have an answer to.

[gunnerhkjp]

heck, I'm thinking of getting the prius just because its quiet. :laugh:

[gaekwad2]

Batteries aren't renewable, they're rechargable. Once they start screwing up and need replacement, disposing of the battery is more of a pollutant than all your gasoline added up.

If you throw it away instead of recycling it.

[SamNeeds]

I would have to agree (even though I haven't read the article you've included). Based on the fact that the process which is involved in manufacturing the batteries and parts etc, yes, it probably would over take the ol' Humvee!

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

I'm assuming, that since the Prius is physically smaller than a Hummer, that less metal would go into the Prius than a Hummer.

Of course the batteries bring it back up a a bit, but the Hummer uses a lot more petrol, so it would have a bigger impact on the environment.

To me, it just seems like a silly argument

[SamNeeds]

I'm assuming, that since the Prius is physically smaller than a Hummer, that less metal would go into the Prius than a Hummer.

Of course the batteries bring it back up a a bit, but the Hummer uses a lot more petrol, so it would have a bigger impact on the environment.

To me, it just seems like a silly argument

Maybe so. However, to make batteries, materials are needed. That would cause damage/polution to the environment just getting them. Then you'll need a plant to build the parts and batteries ofcourse. That would again, cause damage/create pollution. Then, when the batteries are finished with, where do they go? If all else, the liquid within them would cause damage to the environment.

Do you see where I'm going with this? And before you say "No. No I don't!", what I am trying to get at is the fact that at all parts of the process its continually creating polution, damage and god knows what else negative type stuff to the environment.

However, I may be completely wrong and talking a load of crap!

[OPaul]

The new tests which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second.

How is 80mph highway more realistic? In NC, highways are 55 and interstates 65 or 70.

[entropyx]

It depends on where you live. In AZ, freeways = 65, interstates 75-85

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Maybe so. However, to make batteries, materials are needed. That would cause damage/polution to the environment just getting them. Then you'll need a plant to build the parts and batteries ofcourse. That would again, cause damage/create pollution. Then, when the batteries are finished with, where do they go? If all else, the liquid within them would cause damage to the environment.

Do you see where I'm going with this? And before you say "No. No I don't!", what I am trying to get at is the fact that at all parts of the process its continually creating polution, damage and god knows what else negative type stuff to the environment.

However, I may be completely wrong and talking a load of crap!

I agree, thing is, it also takes materials to build a hummer, also need a plant to build hummers, etc.