Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

[caudio51]

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

March 7, 2007

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage
By Chris Demorro
Staff Writer



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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.

 

[Headbanger]

Thanks Tom! :rofl:

 

[caudio51]

I have no idea the validity of the article, I just remember reading it and thought you would get a chuckle. :grin:

 

[Donk]

That is so Cool, Nice find Bro!

 

[Headbanger]

Those facts seem a bit far fetched. Here is what I know:

I got mine well below invoice price. Toyota offered 2.9% APR for 60 months cause I live in the mid Atlantic area. The US government is giving me back $1575 on my Federal return next year as an incentive which ended 3/31/07 and drops to $787.50 till 9/30/07. I expect to save about $70 a month in gas versus the mini van the wife drove. Will be more as I based my savings on $2.50 a gallon and only used her paltry 12,000 miles driven a year. I am closer to 20,000 miles a year and plan on driving the Prius on my sales appointments to save even more.

 

[TexaSmoke]

That's really funny. :hysterica

 

[tobby4]

That is true, or was true... when the car first came out and there was a waiting list and some people were paying a premium for them the money that they could "save" in gas was nowhere near the premium for the car within the first 5-7 years which made it uneconomical. I think that has changed now that the price of the car has come down, but it still has to be close...

 

[avid toker]

The waiting list is far from over and now that the government has done away with the federal deduction, there's a glut of them on the lots. Dealers are now freaking out over what to do with them since consumers are now turning their attention back to non-hybrid cars with above average gas mileage less the high price tag. Ergo, below invoice deals with attractive financing rates.

 

[tobby4]

they will continue to drop in price.. always staying right above the real thing IMO, people will just stop buying them, especially with all of the Ethanol talk

 

[smokem94]

Ha Ha Take that Al Gore!

 

[tobby4]

haha... very true

 

[CWS]

Sounds about right.

 

[Headbanger]

For a Toyota Prius, the updated US government tax incentive is:
4/1/06 - 9/30/06 $3150.
10/1/06 - 3/31/07 $1575.
4/1/07 - 6/30/07 $787.50
7/1/07 NO Tax break

No other car manufacturer hit the goverment 60,000 hybrid sold to start the phase out period. Toyota hit theirs a long time ago.

 

[Headbanger]

they will continue to drop in price.. always staying right above the real thing IMO, people will just stop buying them, especially with all of the Ethanol talk

Ethanol is just that, talk. Manufactures are not even remotely close to making one for production scale yet. The way it sounds now is not practical for the dollars and sense at this time. You are looking at another decade before that would become a reality.

 

[tedski]

PC rhetoric notwithstanding, I have enjoyed owning mine for the past 3 years. It has lots of interior room for a car this size and the fact that I can go 600 miles on a full tank and drive solo in the commuter lane are definate pluses. Especially out here in CA, where gas prices have always been 10-20% higher than the rest of the ConUS.

 

[Headbanger]

The waiting list is far from over and now that the government has done away with the federal deduction, there's a glut of them on the lots. Dealers are now freaking out over what to do with them since consumers are now turning their attention back to non-hybrid cars with above average gas mileage less the high price tag. Ergo, below invoice deals with attractive financing rates.

Your last comment is the EXACT reasons we bought the Prius. 2.9% APR was only for mid Atlantic region. Sold as a decent price IMO for what you get with the gas and emissions was like 22,200.

Your sorta correct on the tax breaks for Toyota, they are being phased out. I get $1575 cash on my Federal return next year which is half of the original amount for a Prius. You are talking about a new car for $20.625 that is WAY more fuel efficient than the mini van we traded in and very low emissions.

 

[Wasch_24]

Nice one Tom. :rofl:

 

[avid toker]

They're getting rid of HOV advantages as well.

 

[Rank_Tyro]

The bit about the mine in Canada is false. It was cleaned up and the area replanted a few years ago.

Ethanol is nothing more than a pipe dream American tax payers are funding at the behest of the Corn subsidies folks. It takes way more diesel fuel to grow the corn that you are trying to get fuel out of.

A friend of mine has a Prius, and I gotta say, it's a nice car. A bit pricey, but then again her father bought it for her.

 

[CWS]

Ethanol is nothing more than a pipe dream American tax payers are funding at the behest of the Corn subsidies folks. It takes way more diesel fuel to grow the corn that you are trying to get fuel out of.

Sugarcane, however is highly efficent in the conversion to Ethanol. Another excellent reason to drop the embargo with Cuba.:stretchgr