Interesting Article on Environment: - Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

[krisd]

This is interesting- not that I am knocking the Pirius.


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Current issue: March 7, 2007 Central Connecticut State University
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Editorial & Commentary

March 7, 2007

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage
By Chris Demorro
Staff Writer

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.
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[haystack]

While there's some interesting points raised in the study, its fundamentally flawed.
Its been discussed widely around the net, and recently on slashdot.

Hybrid's are certainly not the great panacea, but they're pretty cool technically.
Priusii get about 5l/100km in real world around town. A similar sized petrol powered car (eg Corolla) would get around 7l/100km. A small euro diesel (eg Pug 307) would get around 5l/100km as well.

Anyway, don't buy a Prius for cost saving. It won't work out. If you want to save the planet, get out of the car (yes, even out of the Terri!), and walk, ride or catch a train/bus/tram when you can.

PS: I'm also not convinced I want to be owning a Prius when the rare-earth magnet electric motor dies. Its also a Toyota, which pretty much rules it out!

PPS: My Terri full of my family (me, my wife and 3 kids) gets better economy in km/person/litre (between 2l/person/100km and 3l/p/100km) than a Prius with 1 or 2 people in it (2.5 to 5 l/p/100km).

[mbukukanyau]

I always thought there was something odd about that Jetsons ride..

[Tles]

I like the Prius and respect the Technology, what I dislike immensely is the Pious attitude of the owners. I have on several occassions copped comments the least of which is Toorak tractor.
Ford actually build cars in my environment using local labour, steel etc. Driving a Territory and working night shift allow me to only have one family car and living near work, town and beaches. I travel less than 7500 city, not bumper to bumper, kms per year and about the same highway kms.

Carsguide, Glover I think, had a comparison with the average Corolla driver and there average useage.
Resource and environmental use is a whole of life thing. If you live in an outer suburb and drive on your own to work through peak hour each day, get a Prius, little diesel or the train. Don't sit in traffic staring at the Territory or Falcon beside you and think how much better person you are. The cover never tells the full story. :

[mik]

the extra compexity and labour on its own must cancel out some of the green benefits, if the greenies where seriouse they would be on malvern stars.

[Ozfords]

Anyhoo hopping on the trains adds strain on the electrical grid, which burns polluting brown coal.

[GXL078]

I have always said that the batteries in a hybrid cause more pollution (and expense) then they save. They should have compared it to a similar sized passenger car, not a bloody Hummer, that's just HYPE to do that. I am not in favour of hybrids, or the massive turnover of "new" cars in general. A petrol Yaris has almost the same fuel consuption as a Prius (but it is a smaller car). Hybrids came about to get get around CARB (California) emissons regulations to allow Toyota to sell more REAL cars. You don't need a degree in Environmental Science to realise this study is flawed, but I just happen to have one, and I drive a 351(but not everyday).