Just an article about the Prius

[Bundesautobahn]

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.

I found it a pretty interesting read.

Link: http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/edito...asp?NewsID=188

[fr3aki3]

Interesting read indeed, out of curiosity where was this article posted/published?

[Bundesautobahn]

Ah yes i might as well post the link:

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

There you go.

[fr3aki3]

Originally Posted by Bundesautobahn

Ah yes i might as well post the link:

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

There you go.

Thank you!

[phuckingduck]

Interesting read at the least. I always knew there was a reason I liked the xB more than the Prius.

[Blind_Io]

Much thanks. Finally someone who actually has the numbers to back up what I have been saying for years.

Victory is mine!

Originally Posted by phuckingduck

Interesting read at the least. I always knew there was a reason I liked the xB more than the Prius.

Because the Prius doesn't make toast?

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Because the Prius doesn't make toast?

I prefer buttered toast

[bartboy9891]

Doesn't the Toyota Yaris get from 35mpg to 40mpg, and cost half the price, and is made by the same manufacturer?

[epp_b]

Ha! I knew the Prius had a dark secret somewhere! Shoot, my 240SX does 40MPG on the highway. Some stupid, lame and slow hybrid only does five more!

Suck on that, tree hugging hippies!

Because the Prius doesn't make toast?

I Top Gear get wind of this. That would be fantastic!

[SuperStalin]

Hah!

That's what I thought about the Prius,
I wrote about it in another thread!

I was just using logic, but this is so much more informative.

[Copycat]

Uh-huh! Thanks for posting that. One of my friends has been talking about his next car going to be a Prius.


In the words of a great American icon:
"I pity the fool!"

[nomix]

Make sure to tell him that if he tries to change a lightbulb, he will be electrecuted to death, and if he crashes, no one will be able to get him out, cause the car will actually be electrified by the batteries, indeed, if they try to open your heap-o-junk (Prius), they WILL be killed to deathed.

[Blind_Io]

More importantly if he gets a Prius he will have to have sex with trees, eat granola, wear hemp sandals and become an uppity prick who looks down his zinc encrusted nose at anyone who doesn't have a Prius and gets all defensive if anyone criticizes his car.

And he will think his own bowel gases spell like posies.

[Copycat]

Will do.

Thanks. I'm liking this forum more and more now that I actually posted something.

[avanti]

Hybrids are for attention horny ignorant losers!!

[ruuman]

Yep, as I've always said get a car and run it for as long as possible, that's the only way to be a responsible "Eco" motorist. Even better make it a diesel and run it off veg oil.

[YF19pilot]

You know, if it wasn't for the hippies declaring Toyota their enviromental god and the Prius the almighty child, we probably wouldn't have a problem with the Prius.



Who am I kidding? It's ugly, slow, and movie actors are telling me to drive it. Why else should I steer clear of it. Oh, and the tax exemption/refund has run out on the Prius as well, where as, iirc, the Ford Escape Hybrid is still valid for tax exemption/refund that you get for having a hybrid vehicle.

Good article, now I'm convinced to go out and buy myself a military surplus HMMWV.

[Dsemaj]

Good read, although I knew about it before. Next time I see someone say "We should all drive hybrid cars", i'm going to shove this down their throats.

[thedguy]

If you want to save the environment, walk or ride a damn bike. If you want to make a smaller foot print on the environment, buy something with a really small engine that is only engineered for economy, like an early 90's Civic that gets 45+mpg, or a 3 cylinder Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift (gets near 50).

BTW, I'm pretty sure someone has already posted an article like this one before, which included some pictures of the environmental damage around the plant.

[No Boss]

Brilliant post. Thanks so much for putting it up, I'm the same as Blind_IO in that I've been waiting for somthing like this.


/Hummer that goes for 300,000mi.

Edit: cause I'm an idiot and didn't read the full thread.