I'm sure a few of you have read the report that the actual environmental damage caused by a Prius is worse than a Hummer, but in case you haven't, go read this article. I'm not saying that the concept of a Prius is bad, nor is trying to save some gas bad, but when you stack up the total environmental damage caused by the Prius manufacturing process vs. the meager savings to the end user, it's damn near criminal.
Bet you Prius users feel good about saving some gas in your wallet while driving an overpriced vehicle that has already caused more harm to the environment than the average car had you driven it instead.
Now that you've read it and are more educated about the situation, if you actually own a Prius, you should take it back to your Toyota dealer and demand a refund purely on the ethics of this so-called environmentally friendly car. If they refuse to give you your money back, I'm wondering what a Judge in a court of law would say if someone sued to get a refund about being mislead about the environmental impact of the Prius.
Hey, it's just a matter of time and we all know Americans love to sue.
Besides, the environmentally hopped up fanatics won't admit they made any mistake in the first place or they'll tell you they're all too busy getting people to sign a petition to ban the chemical H2O which is getting into all the water supplies.
Fucking tree hugging naive planet killers, don't you just love 'em?
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Prius Damages Planet Worse Than SUVs
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7 comments:
the dumbest "analysis" I ever read. They amortize the cost of building the Hummer over 3x the base mileage and it's still 60% of the cost per mile of a prius? so, a hummer is actually nearly 2x the raw cost of the prius to build.
And that's without including the fact that a Prius uses parts that have only been in mainstream construction for 5 years, while the Hummer is 15 years old and a 40 year old design. Shocking that you've found some inefficiencies there, that will go away as hybrid/battery technology improves and gets mainstreamed.
Not to mention that the analysis of how the parts for the battery are made is pretty one-sided (no analysis of the impact of Hummer parts).
I'm sure the nickel mines are bad. But what percentage of the nickel goes to the Prius, what to other things?
And those trips around the world? On container ships. Very efficient.
You can read some more comprehensive refutations of this piece
here and here
Certainly, the editorial linked to by this post is problematic in both its stated assertions and the measurements/math used. I don't think the author has a very good understanding of automotive engineering, or of environmental engineering, or of economics.
One problem that presents itself even before the author's argument limps out of the gate is that the total cost in purchase dollars does not compare evenly between the two vehicles. Further, this cost does not reflect external costs of driving each vehicle, e.g. emissions (both CO2 and particulates, where the hybrid cars really excel). So really, the argument from initial production/purchase cost is nonsensical, and the entire topic of exhaust emissions is neatly avoided by this smug, amateurish article.
There are other assertions in this article that have been debunked or are sourced from thin air - such as the 5 year cost breakeven, or the idea that a midsize car retailing in the low/mid $20k range is "overpriced". Details such as these are not important if they interfere with the main idea that the author feels slighted when he sees someone owning a hybrid automobile. Very, very odd thought process indeed.
I think the writer is not a serious person, and more likely an undergraduate trying to impress fellow college republicans (vague, groundless smears against anything "environmentalist" score big social points.)
I saw a Toyota billboard on the side of the road claiming the Prius saves an average of about 362 gallons of gas per year. Big whoop when you're only talking savings of $1K-$1.5K in gas per year out of pocket vs. driving a crappy slow car that most mechanics couldn't fix so it locks you back into the high priced dealership repair department.
Besides, those batteries have to be replaced eventually...
Buddy of mine actually drives one and claims he gets about 45mpg which is a lot less than Toyota claims.
The obvious cleanest emissions autos would be all electric using all nuclear electricity and reprocessing the fuel rods like they do in Europe instead of burying the damn spent rods like we do in the US.
We could already be independent of foreign oil but it's the old boys fossil fuel business holding us back and always has been.
Sorry, that editorial is about as accurate and balanced as your anonymous poster who's always going on about Google and stealth surfing.
Unfortunately, our kind host Bill makes the same logical mistakes the editorial itself does: "the Prius saves an average of about 362 gallons of gas per year. Big whoop when you're only talking savings of $1K-$1.5K in gas per year out of pocket." The highly biased op-ed makes the same mistake, repeatedly, saying that Prius owners are willing to pay extra to "show the world" how friendly they are, rather than to save money on $3.50 a gallon fill-ups. I'm sure we can all agree that gas prices are getting worse faster than environmental damage from burning gas is increasing ... you're confusing two completely different concepts.
The op-ed piece has too much propaganda for me to be able to finish. Just not worth my time. If they can't get the most basic elements of their opinion piece right, I can't be bothered to read the hogwash.
Actually, the Prius just pisses me off with their advertising 60MPG when people I know driving it claim 40-45MPG is closer to the truth and the EPA didn't appear to really test it in the first place unless that test was done all downhill returning from Reno to Sacramento.
Of course you would have to push the Prius up the mountain to get to Reno in the first place because that hamster wheel powered engine would be in trouble at 7K feet, but that's a different issue.
Hell, back in the 70's during the last gas crisis someone I knew drove a VW diesel and got almost 60MPG but you sure don't see those cars around anymore and they weren't a hybrid anything, just good old German engineering.
It's all bullshit as we know cars can easily get better mileage until you start bolting on catalytic converters, air conditioners, automatic transmissions, engine computers, and all sorts of other fancy gadgets that make the car work twice as hard to go the same distance.
Take off all the fancy toys and you get better MPG, what a shocker.
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