Thai
Elite Member
Ok, finally did some Googling. Here are some facts about the Prius that is interesting and possibly debunking what some have claimed in the news. (Disclaimer: i know nothing about this carbon stuff to really comment on either side.)
Links:
Is it more energy-efficient to buy a used car than a brand-new hybrid? - By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine
"Here's the bottom line: The Prius is by no means a perfect car, but it's certainly tough to beat in terms of cradle-to-grave, pound-for-pound energy consumption."
Note: he used a 2008 Prius for the discussion above. The 2010 Prius is even more energy efficient and uses more environmentally-friendly materials.
Is it possible that a Hummer's better for the environment than a Prius is? - By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine
" As numerous learned folks have pointed out, the 458-page "Dust to Dust" makes zero sense, and not just because it betrays its scientific shortcomings early on by referring to "gigajeulles" of energy. For starters, the report automatically penalizes the Prius by prorating all of Toyota's hybrid research-and-development costs across the relatively small number of Priuses on the road. New technologies obviously require massive upfront investment, so this puts the Prius deep in the energy hole right off the bat.
Second, "Dust to Dust" makes a gaggle of inexplicable assumptions, such as claiming that a Prius will last only 109,000 miles, well below the stated "industry straight average" of 178,739 miles—not to mention the whopping 379,000 miles ascribed to the Hummer H1.
"Dust to Dust" also posits that the vast majority of a car's cradle-to-grave energy gets expended during production. That assertion runs contrary to virtually every other analysis of vehicular life cycles, including those conducted by MIT (PDF) and Argonne National Laboratory.
CNW's science is so feeble, in fact, that the Central Connecticut student who first cited it went on to publish a partial recantation, admitting that "Dust to Dust" is "dubious at best."
On top of that, all cars contain nickel in their frames—the Hummer's frame, for example, has twice as much nickel as the Prius'. Also, nickel is 80 percent to 95 percent recoverable during the recycling process.
All that said, Toyota acknowledges that manufacturing a Prius is more energy intensive than making a nonhybrid car. Argonne's scientists estimate that producing a pound's worth of a hybrid car requires 38,650 British thermal units, 23 percent more than that required to build a pound of a traditional car. But the Prius' fuel savings can make up that difference rather quickly, at least compared with the average car, which gets a measly 22.9 miles per gallon. (The EPA estimates the Prius' fuel efficiency at 48 miles per gallon in the city, 45 on the highway—estimates that Prius owners typically claim are far too low.)
Toyota Creates New Flower Species To Cut CO2 From Prius Production - All About Prius
"A steady drumbeat of criticism has been aimed at the 50-mpg Prius, whose manufacturing creates more CO2 than that of other cars, offsetting its fuel efficiency. Toyota says that the difference in CO2 is compensated for after a single year of operation."
Links:
Is it more energy-efficient to buy a used car than a brand-new hybrid? - By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine
"Here's the bottom line: The Prius is by no means a perfect car, but it's certainly tough to beat in terms of cradle-to-grave, pound-for-pound energy consumption."
Note: he used a 2008 Prius for the discussion above. The 2010 Prius is even more energy efficient and uses more environmentally-friendly materials.
Is it possible that a Hummer's better for the environment than a Prius is? - By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine
" As numerous learned folks have pointed out, the 458-page "Dust to Dust" makes zero sense, and not just because it betrays its scientific shortcomings early on by referring to "gigajeulles" of energy. For starters, the report automatically penalizes the Prius by prorating all of Toyota's hybrid research-and-development costs across the relatively small number of Priuses on the road. New technologies obviously require massive upfront investment, so this puts the Prius deep in the energy hole right off the bat.
Second, "Dust to Dust" makes a gaggle of inexplicable assumptions, such as claiming that a Prius will last only 109,000 miles, well below the stated "industry straight average" of 178,739 miles—not to mention the whopping 379,000 miles ascribed to the Hummer H1.
"Dust to Dust" also posits that the vast majority of a car's cradle-to-grave energy gets expended during production. That assertion runs contrary to virtually every other analysis of vehicular life cycles, including those conducted by MIT (PDF) and Argonne National Laboratory.
CNW's science is so feeble, in fact, that the Central Connecticut student who first cited it went on to publish a partial recantation, admitting that "Dust to Dust" is "dubious at best."
On top of that, all cars contain nickel in their frames—the Hummer's frame, for example, has twice as much nickel as the Prius'. Also, nickel is 80 percent to 95 percent recoverable during the recycling process.
All that said, Toyota acknowledges that manufacturing a Prius is more energy intensive than making a nonhybrid car. Argonne's scientists estimate that producing a pound's worth of a hybrid car requires 38,650 British thermal units, 23 percent more than that required to build a pound of a traditional car. But the Prius' fuel savings can make up that difference rather quickly, at least compared with the average car, which gets a measly 22.9 miles per gallon. (The EPA estimates the Prius' fuel efficiency at 48 miles per gallon in the city, 45 on the highway—estimates that Prius owners typically claim are far too low.)
Toyota Creates New Flower Species To Cut CO2 From Prius Production - All About Prius
"A steady drumbeat of criticism has been aimed at the 50-mpg Prius, whose manufacturing creates more CO2 than that of other cars, offsetting its fuel efficiency. Toyota says that the difference in CO2 is compensated for after a single year of operation."
I don't think any VW can come close to matching that last part, certainly not those made in Mexico. :flamethrwoer2:
In fact, it might be even slower than my Prius! :ybrick:
