Interesting article on total environmental impact.
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Hummer More Friendly to Environment then Prius Hybird
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.

 

Interesting post Ian. It contained the specifics of what I knew to be true all along for both EPA figures and the cost/impact of hybrid ownership.

I also wonder what the value of a used Prius with 100k+ km on it is given a life span of 160k.

 

Wouldn't be much.....
& can you imagine out of warranty repairs (batteries)

 

You're right. Total ownership cost would be very high.

I wouldn't want to imagine those repair bills.

I'm curious where the article came from and credit them with giving the other side to the story.

The new PC budget car penalties/incentives just put another knife into the side of the three domestics. $4K penalty on a Hummer. They can't be happy attacking the most profitable side of their business.

 

Good reading Ian, it certainly gives another perspective to these Hybrid cars.
Thanks for the article.

 

It's from here: http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder//edit...asp?NewsID=188

 

Thanks.

 

I read something similar about refining for the Hydrogen fuel cells as well awhile back. Same philosophy.

 

Wow interesting article, maybe I should buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot...Nah!! I think I'll stick with the G for a while.

 

Good article, Ian....I love the spin they can put on just about anything these days......

Lots of truth there....very interesting.

C.

 

You often hear about the evil's of using batteries (The ones in toys, like AAA, AA, C's and D cells), and you should use rechargeable batteries to minimize the impact on the environment at the landfill site. Then, when you throw out your car/marine battery, you have to pay a safe disposal fee, which I'm assuming its because the bloody battery is dangerous when you discard it.

These hybrids never made sense to me. Where are you going to put all those batteries?!?!

Maybe I'm just a layman when it comes to waste disposal and battery technology

 

Wow, what a very interesting article. I've never thought Hybrids were economically worth it with the increase cost vs fuel savings. I did however think that they were better for the environment......guess I was wrong.

I thought this part was quite scary.

"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."

 

Great info Ian, Whodathunkit? That does it for me, ChristianN said it best. maybe I should buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot...Nah!! I think I'll stick with the G for a while.
I think this line from " The Magnificent Seven "Batteries, we don't need no stinkin batteries" also applies.

 

Take it to the scrap yard and they will give you money for it. Lead is worth quite a bit of money. Acid is the concern and has to be taken care of properly, that is the last thing you need in leachate.

The artical talks about nickel being so bad. No one has a problem with stainless steel do they?

 

I don't think that the author is attempting to make the public believe nickle is bad but rather that the processes to refine nickle for use in a battery are taxing on the environment.