Posted on 03/20/2007 7:31:55 AM PDT by pabianice
SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT- Hummer vs. Prius
You would do better in a Hummer. Manufacturing the Toyota Prius involves a shocking amount of pollution. A plant in Ontario, dubbed the "Superstack," mines and smelts the nickel for the Prius' battery, each of which then travels to Europe, China, Japan and the United States. How many Prius miles would it take to offset those trips? Canadian Greenpeace energy coordinator David Martin says the vast amounts of sulfur dioxide released over northern Ontario cause acid rain, which in turn destroys plants in the area, resulting in mudslides. In fact, the surrounding environment is so damaged that NASA uses the "dead zone" for testing moon rovers.
Now for the bad news: The Prius' EPA mileage estimates have dropped for 2008 by 25 percent due to modified standards. The hybrid now averages a puny 45-mpg---not much better than cars at half the price. The Prius also costs more to operate and has a shorter life span than a Hummer, probably the most hated of all vehicles among environmentalist wackos. The Prius has a life expectancy of only 100,000 miles, and it costs an average of $3.25 per mile to operate. By contrast, the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile for a 300,000-mile lifetime.
hey who wouldn't want a hummer.
Economics and common sense is not what Toyota Prius buyers are looking for when they buy one. They want to feel smug and superior when an SUV passes them on the road.
Plus the Hummer doesn't produce nearly as much Smug.
Here is the FR thread from last week.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1800912/posts
Whoever sent that email is using moonbat strategy, selective "outrage", and delusional "environmentalism".
That Canadian plant has been operating since 1858, and whatever has resulted went into a lot more other other things, cars, aircraft, and everywhere where metal alloys are used, than into priuses.
Nickel consumption can be summarized as: nickel steels (60%), nickel-copper alloys and nickel silver (14%), malleable nickel, nickel clad and Inconel (9%), plating (6%), nickel cast irons (3%), heat and electric resistance alloys (3%), nickel brasses and bronzes (2%), others (3%).
Just let the idiot get a hummer; hell, let him get a half dozen. He's happy, prius owners are happy.
Lead, incidentally is considered much more hazardous and toxic...
Silly season...
comparing costs per lifetimes is fine, I guess.
i wonder what it costs to run a Hummer for 100,000 miles ?
The Prius fills a market niche. One created by affluent Birkenstock wearers.
Is the author comparing the Prius' milage with the 2008 vs other cars on the 2007 standard? Apples and oranges if he is. Every car's gas mileage is dropping in 2008 because the EPA is doing a more realistic test.
The Prius also costs more to operate and has a shorter life span than a Hummer, probably the most hated of all vehicles among environmentalist wackos. The Prius has a life expectancy of only 100,000 miles, and it costs an average of $3.25 per mile to operate. By contrast, the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile for a 300,000-mile lifetime.
The original study by CNW Marketing called Dust to Dust came up with this figure for energy costs associated with each car. Just about the entire $325,000 cost for the Prius ($3.25/mile * 100,000 miles) is attributed to disposal costs of the Prius. Most of that is from disposal of the batteries and the difficulty in recycling the plastics in the Prius.
The first time I saw these figures were posted on FR was in Have You Hugged a Hummer Today? (Piercing the Hybrid Hype). Each time this story is repeated more and more details are dropped. Pretty soon it will be down to "Hummer good, Prius bad!"
As I said, if the hummer types ran their cars on their brainpower, they would be underpowered even by Prius standards.
Now for the bad news: The Prius' EPA mileage estimates have dropped for 2008 by 25 percent due to modified standards. The hybrid now averages a puny 45-mpg---not much better than cars at half the price.
***
Do the modified standards apply only to the Prius? If not, what are other mpg ratings for those cars at half the price? By the way, mine gets about 49 mpg overall, after about 81K miles driven since November 2004.
The Prius also costs more to operate and has a shorter life span than a Hummer, probably the most hated of all vehicles among environmentalist wackos.
More Priuses are sold than Hummers probably by a factor of 20. The market is telling us something. What percentage of Hummers last 300,000 miles? Prius taxicabs with over 200,000 have been documented all over the world, in all sorts of weather and environmental conditions.
If I am an environmental wacko, it will come as an amusing surprise to family, friends and people here on FR who are familiar with my interests and posts.
The Prius has a life expectancy of only 100,000 miles, and it costs an average of $3.25 per mile to operate. By contrast, the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile for a 300,000-mile lifetime.
This is right up there with the "Global Warming" hype, wrong on every count. I would love to know what percentage of Hummers still running have 300,000 miles on them. Any documentation for that outrageous claim? As to the operating costs, do you really think my 4-year experience has cost me $3.25 per mile? If it did I would slash my wrists since --- surprise! --- I didn't buy it to save money, but even so, I would feel like a total fool if I operated such a car. I got better things to do with my money.
Maintenance? The prius has cost less for maintenance than any other car I've owned, aside from fuel costs
Let's talk other car operating costs. Insurance? collision repair costs? Smog checks?
By the way, I also own a 4-runner 8 years older than the Prius and with 20,000 fewer miles on it. I'll let others take a wild guess as to which is the more popular car in this family for driving fun and transportation!
You like toys? Buy a playstation.
Edmunds lists the 5 year, 75,000 mile all inclusive cost of a Prius at $35,000. The corresponding figure for a Hummer H2 is $70,000.
The cost of fuel comprises 10 and 23% of those totals, respectively.
We call it the Toyota "Pious."
I'll stick my my Chevy Suburban. 90k miles on it and it still runs like it did they day we got it from the car lot. Change the oil, change the tranny fluid, change the other essential fluids and a GM SUV will last you a long time.
Boy is this post full of misinformation.
For one, according to the most recent Consumer Reports suvey, the Hummer has one of the WORST reliability rercords among all vehicles. On the other hand, Prius ranks number 1 in customer satisfaction.
"The Prius has a life expectancy of only 100,000 miles"
Whatever you want to think of the Prius, or Pius, this is bogus. The whole article seems to rely on the assumption that the car will collapse after 100,001 miles, when in fact 100k miles is the warranty.
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