Toyota: Killing Canadianians?

[notsoaveragej0e]

Bill Neurath
cobrabill@earthlink.net


Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage
By Chris Demorro
Staff Writer
March 7, 2007



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, prope! ls 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 45m! pg. 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 destroye! d 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 Mar keting 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 t! o wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses.

Don't worry though, American Press will still try to hate GM as much as possible.

[nascarnate326]

Its all in marketing. Toyota marketing as made the prius into the second comming, and the American people have not told them no. Good find though. GM!!!!

[GMFreak]

Dang, that's crazy. Can't wait till my sister sees this, she hates hummers. Haha! Very informative though.

[AMRAAM4]

That rates right up there with Al Gore and his $1100 a month electric/gas bills for his ranch. He spent more on electric/gas last Aug/Sept than the average home spends in an entire year.

[Exodus]

Im always skepticle when its comes to govt. controlled estimates. Sometimes I think how many chemicals were fed to the cow or chicken im about to eat or even the pesticides on fruits and vegies.


Cancer anyone?

[Ajaxus]

the hummer plant is about a 25min drive from here, and the road test is 5mins from my house...definitely nice to win one for the team, im passing this article along. btw, link?

Originally Posted by AMRAAM4

That rates right up there with Al Gore and his $1100 a month electric/gas bills for his ranch. He spent more on electric/gas last Aug/Sept than the average home spends in an entire year.

and ironically enough, GWB's ranch in Texas is entirely self-sufficient.

[Mirage85]

Originally Posted by AMRAAM4

That rates right up there with Al Gore and his $1100 a month electric/gas bills for his ranch. He spent more on electric/gas last Aug/Sept than the average home spends in an entire year.

While true, he has a much larger home than most people, yet at the same time, he's not practicing what he's preaching. A bit hipocritical, but he has the money to do what he wants.....

One man's usage of energy can't really make a difference, but he has opened many peoples eyes to what is going on with global warming....

[Pitter98]

Originally Posted by Ajaxus

and ironically enough, GWB's ranch in Texas is entirely self-sufficient.

Hehe, ain't that a kick in the pants for all the environment-loving Dems.

[AMRAAM4]

Originally Posted by Mirage85

While true, he has a much larger home than most people, yet at the same time, he's not practicing what he's preaching. A bit hipocritical, but he has the money to do what he wants.....

One man's usage of energy can't really make a difference, but he has opened many peoples eyes to what is going on with global warming....

There are so many conflicting statements in that post in regards to global warming, Gore, and inconvenient Truth, it's laughable.

[Mirage85]

Originally Posted by AMRAAM4

There are so many conflicting statements in that post in regards to global warming, Gore, and inconvenient Truth, it's laughable.

I know, its quite the conumdrum.... he has very valid points, however.... he doesn't seem to do his part to make the world a better place. Sure he's out there speaking and what not, but he's not the most energy efficient person himself.


While you may think his ideas are laughable, we will see in a very short time just how funny he really is or isn't...

[Sprucegagt]

Originally Posted by Mirage85

While true, he has a much larger home than most people, yet at the same time, he's not practicing what he's preaching. A bit hipocritical, but he has the money to do what he wants.....

Figured it was relivant.

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.as...mode=1&smode=1

[Mirage85]

Originally Posted by Sprucegagt

Figured it was relivant.

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.as...mode=1&smode=1

Its sad when people don't like when someone is telling the truth, so they have to dig up dirty on the person to make them look bad. Sure he's doing the whole, "do as I say, not as I do" deal, but he knows his stuff, its just a shame he's not as conservative with his energy as he should be.

However, how much has the guy been home to actually control whats going on? How many family members or workers or whatever are actually at his house messing with everthing from the TV to the thermostat? We don't know everything thats going on here....

[black05GT]

This appears to be the source of the quoted document:

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

And, it appears that SOME of the information presented MAY be both dated and exaggerated regarding the CURRENT conditions in Sudbury.
That aside, the article does make a valid point about the TOTAL cost of both the production and operation of an "environmentally friendly" vehicle.

[AMRAAM4]

It's sad when people can't accept the reality of frauds. i don't dispute the global warming stuff, I dispute the fraud being the front man. not only does he not follow what he preaches, but all that info in the movie and his presentations is stolen from another man's book (my wife has it, and I have no idea who the author is).

and the original story of Gore was on ABC website and CNN. Hard to consider it BS if they were willing to print it.

[Exodus]

Its all about money. Gore makes money everytime he sells a book makes a public appearance, etc. He's just as bad as the oil companies. All he really cares about is money.

[Ajaxus]

Originally Posted by Mirage85

While true, he has a much larger home than most people, yet at the same time, he's not practicing what he's preaching. A bit hipocritical, but he has the money to do what he wants.....

One man's usage of energy can't really make a difference, but he has opened many peoples eyes to what is going on with global warming....

well technology isn't exactly in place for cleaner fuels. we haven't built a new nuclear power plant in years and still use coal as a primary source of producing electricity, until we use cleaner fuels (nuclear power being top of the list) you can't blame him on that front.

solar panels aren't exactly affordable right now, nor are the main ones on the market as efficient as they could be.

you can blame the man so much, but in the end, he can only use what is given to him and what has been improved upon. if we improved technologies further i'm sure that we would see shifts in energy consumption globally as well as in al gore's own home.

Originally Posted by Pitter98

Hehe, ain't that a kick in the pants for all the environment-loving Dems.

more of a kick in the pants for the "ever in denial" Repubs..they dispute the existence of global warming, they say we don't have to live cleanly..and BAM! their oh so great leader is eco-friendly...kinda hurts their ability to pass along the whole "global warming is a big fat myth" story.

not to mention the fact that Bush's new energy bill calls for the use of cleaner burning and alternative fuels as well as a 20% reduction in the use of Oil in the USA over the next 10 years. i guess the big guy knows that global warming really is happening.

Originally Posted by Mirage85

While you may think his ideas are laughable, we will see in a very short time just how funny he really is or isn't...

Read:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science....ap/index.html


yeah, it's really that bad.


here's the low down on global warming. one of the story's conservatives try to pass off is that the world goes through cycles of global warming every few hundred thousand years and that it is natural. yes this is true.

what they fail to realise is that each time the earth warms, it takes about 100-200k years to warm as much as it has warmed in the last 200 years alone. the industrial age has artificially sped the process up, plants and animals don't have time to adjust to the changes, which thus puts us on the edge of extinction.

don't believe me? try not to tell me in person, i hate idiots possibly even more than bob does..

[notsoaveragej0e]

Originally Posted by Ajaxus

btw, link?

My dad forwards these to me as he gets them in his condensed daily auto news briefing, so no linkie, sowwie. Maybe google the writer and it'll pull something up?

[Ajaxus]

ill give it a try..i want to share it with a prof.

[Mirage85]

[quote=Ajaxus;869067]


Read:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science....ap/index.html


yeah, it's really that bad.

QUOTE]

Exactly my point

[cavingman]

*cry*
im gonna go back to my job building drill rigs. we cant really do anything about the environment at this point.
<--environment-loving dem