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


Central Connecticut State University
The Recorder

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.


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