What do you guys think about this article? It seems unbiased as whoever did the research and wrote it suggested getting a Scion which is also manufactured by Toyo over a Prius. I bet the impact of our HCH is similar as it also runs of a similarly sized capacitor.
your guess is as good as mine. Like I said, I think it may not be biased as instead of promoting the Hummer, it suggests purchasing a fuel efficient Scion, which is also manufactured by Toyota. If it presented this data, and then suggested purchasing a GM vehicle one would easily be able to see that it most likely was created by a GM insider or affliate. Im asking you guys the same thing, what do you think about it?
It may be factual, I know aluminum is very expensive to refine, nickel probably has its envirornmental consequences as well.
A few things the article failed to consider is the energy required to transport the crude oil from its location mostly in the Middle East to our Refining centers here in the US, when one factors in the MPG difference of 8 mpg vs 45 mpg Hummer and Prius respectively this becomes an important piece of information not taken into consideration. The article covered the energy required for the transportation of refined Nickel from here to Japan but not the amount of energy it would take to transport 6 times the amount of oil that would be needed to operate a hummer vs a prius.
The article was sure to include the amount of nickel the production of a Prius needs, but Im almost positive the amount of Nickel in cell phones and other capacitors FAR EXCEEDS the amount in all of the Priuses running around. Think about how many people have cell phones, we have a population of over 500 million here in the US and probably 75% of us have cell phones.
When the batteries in the Hybrid, any Hybrid, dies or gets replaced, the common disposal method is to strip all renewable metals and plastics and dump the NiHM into a landfill. It is common knowledge and is documented in several news organizations that did a review of this technology a few years ago.
Does it mean they still do this? Well unfortunately no manufacture has ever commented on how they dispose of their spent batteries after it has been replaced.
But like z06 2 hch stated, there are problems that exist even with computers and cell phone technologies ending up in the landfills also.
We still have a long way to go before we are "environmentally clean". The Telsa is a step in the right direction. High performance, 100 percent zero emissions.
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1987 Chevy Spectrum - 200,000+ Miles -Junk Yard
1994 Honda Civic DX Coupe - Truck Hit it
1998 Acura 2.3 CL - End of Lease
2002 Acura TL 3.2 - End of Lease
2004 Acura MDX - End of Lease
2007 Mercedes ML350 -Lemon
2007 Honda Civic Hybrid w/Navi - Active
Yeah the disposal of the batteries is a concern when the time comes, but this article speaks of mining and refining the nickel that is in the batteries, and the transport of the nickel to japan.
1- CNW !!! This company has been ridiculed for the incompetency in their reports and consistent lack of peer/scientific review. The news agencies who quote them are also worthy of ridicule. CNW's reports represent the epitome of informational trash of the highest order. Please do a search in this forum and you'll see what I mean.
2- Both Toyota and Honda have provided details concerning the manufacturing footprint of their hybrid vehicles. Nothing CNW states is backed up by concrete evidence and verifiable analysis, in fact the only scientific and verifiable evidence concerning these issues simply proves how wrong CWN is. Again look things up in this forum ("CWN" is the key) and you'll see what I mean.
3- I though I heard all the ridiculous speculation possible regarding the disposal of the hybrid batteries... until I starting reading this thread. Wow.
Let me state for a fact that the likelihood of a NiMH pack ending up in a landfill is literally NILL. As an example of this, Toyota even offers a reward for the return of the battery to the dealer or to an authorized location provided after calling the phone number printed on the pack. Honda collects all the batteries they retrieve upon replacement and take them back for reconditioning and analysis. They contain too many precious metals to be simply dumped in a landfill not to mention that many of the cells in a "failed" pack are still viable for reconditioning replacement packs. Again, this issue has been beaten to death in this and other forums and the claims that they are ending up in landfills has been consistently found wanting.
Now, I'll leave at this because... I also want others to contribute to this thread with links and specific proof of why CNW is hardly credible. Believe me, it is pretty easy to dig the proof up.
This story about the Prius vs. the Hummer is sooo old.
This article I put up might be biased, who knows. I don't feel like wasting my time reading a 800 pg report. I personally think the notion that a vehicle that consumes three to four times less fuel can consume more energy in manufacturing is ridiculous. A gallon of gasoline holds a massive amount of energy. A whole 33kwh. That's huge! That's 118800000 joules!
After 100k miles you've saved 248000 kwh if you drive a Prius vs. Hummer.
Are you telling me that over 248000kwh is spent on building/maintaining a Prius? That's equivilant to over 2,500 gallons of gas!!!!!!
My math above isn't (at least don't think is) on the web site i put above. I remeber it being a good article. The writer has lots of good points and points out some flaws.
Even if a Prius used more energy than a Hummer, at least it sends less money to foreign oil and is less polluting to the air, and gives us something for gearheads/nerds/hippies to talk about.
This article is the classic example of comparing the worst-case scenario of the hybrid with the best-case scenario of the other car to attempt an argument about how stupid hybrids are. It's just another ploy to discredit hybrids and relieve gas guzzlers of their guilt so they can justify their foolish choices.
And again they talk about how long it will take for the hybrid upgrade to pay you back in gas savings. Just try to calculate how long it will take for the V-10 (or ANY other) upgrade to pay you back, it won't, and doesn't even have the potential to. So trying to discredit the hybrid on that basis, when it's the only car option that has the possibility to pay for itself, is absolutely ludicrous. Plus, as we all know, it's not just about the money.
Ok Ok! I didnt know the article was incredulous and biased, thats why I asked you. Although it seemed to present some hard data concerining the refinement of Nickel I was skeptical about it.
Another thing that isnt mentioned is the amount of Steel and other material that the Hummer is comprised of compared to that of a Prius. Last time I checked a Hummer H2 weighs what, 5800 lbs or something ridiculous? Ok so 5800 lbs of steel, and plastic vs 2800 lbs. That steel was mined, refined, and then smelted to form a frame, then transported to and from eleswhere, how much energy did the additional 3000 lbs of it take over a Prius?
Add this with the amount of energy to transport the oil to refineries here in the US, to propel this behemoth around with 8 mpg and the article really just doesnt make any sense.
Good looking out, I figured the article was BS, you guys set it straight.
prius environmental impact
