The real truth about the Prius.

[mikecentola]

I found this on another forum.

"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."

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

[showmotive]

I never read long threads but that was pretty interesting. Hippies are gonna be pissed.

[Captain Moai]

There's always a catch to build something more technologically advanced. It's all about the law of diminishing returns.

at 48 cents per mile, the Scion xB sounds like tons of fun.

[1320ride]

just ask walt.

[waltbabyluv]

some of the article is true, some of it isnt, and some i have no clue about and could care less about acid rain in ontario. I can say, there is not a Chevy Aveo in the world i would buy, nor anyone would buy seeing how dealerships cant give them away, and if they do sell them they have to give them away, they are terrible cars, there is not a chevy aveo on the market that is half the price of a prius (prius can be had for just over 21k) I can say the Prius is an extremely reliable car, it is a mid size car so comparing it a an aveo or xb is foolish, and they get great gas mileage, and the resale of a prius is still like no other car on the market. Alot of the customer i sold got around 48-52 on average, which is 17-20mpg better than an aveo and about 12-15 better than an xb.

As far as an xB goes i still think they are the best bang for the buck as far as a basic transportation car goes, there realy cheap, they have a shitload of room, they have a really high resale value, and are very reliable. My scion xB is a 2004, it has 85k on it, it has not been in the shop yet for a problem, the car has been amazing

[91se-rdet]

i was going to say this was a shot at killing toyotas market untill they mentioned the xb...thats some interesting news..good post

[nysulli]

at the same time, why don't we have more diesels in the US, go over to europe and you'll see tons of diesel powered aveo to prius sized cars getting 50-75 mpg without the hassel and extra cost of a new technology like hybrids

[19Cutlass94]

gas mileage is overrated...

[Khyron]

who cares. bottom line. the car is just Gay.

[Shawn96VR-4]

The new EPA ratings are going to hurt them the most.

[Captain Moai]

Originally Posted by nysulli

at the same time, why don't we have more diesels in the US, go over to europe and you'll see tons of diesel powered aveo to prius sized cars getting 50-75 mpg without the hassel and extra cost of a new technology like hybrids

It's so true. Here in the US, there's so much fucking red tape to allow cars like that. If there's anything destroying the environment, it's the bureaucrats at DOT. Why won't they allow a 1.5L diesel over here? 50mpg, but still not enough cash lining someone's pockets, apparently.

[intern8tion9l]

Originally Posted by Khyron

who cares. bottom line. the car is just Gay.

yeah thats what i was thinking. its as attractive as dog vomit