A Slashot article is reporting that in terms of total energy used over the life of the car, considering the cost of manufacturing, the Hummer is greener than the beloved Prius. Great stuff. And, as is pointed out in several article comments, the environmental impact of mining the materials for the batteries is horrendous.
And a comment on the article that I really liked:The Prius was never for real environmentalists anyway. It's for lazy
yuppies who want to put out an environmentally conscious image. Real
environmentalists live close to work, bike, or take the bus.
It's also fairly well known that where the Prius excels in gas
mileage is in-city driving. If you are getting a Prius to drive in
city, then you can probably easily take a bus / train, walk, or ride your bike.
Posted by john on March 21, 2007 at 08:12 AM PDT #
Posted by Jeffrey Blattman on March 21, 2007 at 08:45 AM PDT #
Not only does Toyota guarantee the Prius for milages in excess of 100,000 but there has been confirmed reports of a Prius taxi in Canada that has done more than 250,000 miles.
The firm that produced the report, CNW Marketing Research, were asked how they derived the conclusion that the Prius only lasts for 100,000 miles and they refused to reply.
The study was not peer-reviewed and reanalysis of the same issue with peer-reviewed data approved by the scientific community gives the opposite conclusion, that smaller cars and hybrid cars pollute less than bigger and less fuel efficient cars.
Further Reading:
Pacific Institute Study on Hummer versus Prius Study
The Anti-Hybrid "Dust-to-Dust" Cost Study that Just Won't Die, But Needs To
Prius Versus Hummer: Exploding the Myth
Posted by Stephen Saint Claire on June 26, 2007 at 04:12 AM PDT #