Help! Prius trashed at son's school eco day!

^^^
The ERGs at https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti?_pageLabel=ti_erg&_nfpb=true will list the HV battery weights.

 

Misinformation is not uncommon. I think the important thing is to teach your children about this early - it's never too early to encourage them to form their own opinions, and not just blindly accept what they are told.

As an example, how many people here know that an airplane's lift is provided by the Bernoulli effect. The air has to travel further across the top of the wing than the bottom, so the pressure is lower above, so there's lift, right?
xkcd: Airfoil
There are many forces in play here of which Bernoulli is one, but a far larger one is just that the wing is angled to push the air down.

I read a great story a few years ago that I sadly can't find, about someone who was taught this in school (I think quite young), and found it hard to believe. So he did some research on his own, and found that his suspicions were correct; the Bernoulli effect was contributing maybe 5% of the total lift. He also found that even many college-level textbooks had gotten it wrong. The teacher, of course, was quite unhappy to be told she was wrong, and wouldn't accept it.

I say let the teacher or administration know you're unhappy that it was presented as fact from a supposed expert, but leave it at that. If they feel so compelled, let them invite you or somebody else to set the record straight, but don't pressure it.

With your kid, teach him that even experts are wrong sometimes, and that when they receive conflicting information, it's a good idea to do their own research. Also teach him that, even if an expert is wrong, it's not always appropriate to point it out (for example, during a school assembly, it is probably not appropriate; in a classroom, it might be; and one-on-one afterwards is probably even better), and that when it is appropriate, it needs to be done politely.

If you're really ambitious, you can trick him into doing reading, math, and science in his free time by taking advantage of questions like this, and asking him to figure it out for himself. (E.g. how much nickel is in the Prius battery? How much nickel does a nickel mine produce in a year? How much does a mine pollute in that year? Thus, how much pollution is generated by the production of one battery's worth of nickel?)

 

I would not really worry too much about wrong info of Prius/Hammer. What really bugs me is the way schools are running these days. They never encourage students to question authorities! I guess they might discourage independent thinking through their rules and admin practices.

 

So 41 kg total weight of which the nickel (the part all the anti's get concerned about when slagging off the Prius) is about 15 kg.

So how much nickel does a chrome plated Rolls Royce radiator grill contain? Or a how much nickel is in a stainless steel Hummer exhaust? Is it a significant amount or negligible?

Just curious.

 

ooo trashed in that way..
i expected the kids to trash your prius driving it ;-)

 

ok I don't watch it and couldn't find the link so i fixed my post. I thought they did because all the people i meet around here that do watch it tell me the same thing that it takes more fuel to make a prius than to drive a hummer it's whole life. They also tell me Obama is a muslim, and not an american ect ect and they know that for a fact cause fox news has said it thousands of times.

 

since the op is from Toronto, the person could be part of the mayors group , mayor of Toronto loves cars

people should get over comparing everything to a Hummer
Really , H1 was a Larger SUV, but H 2 and H 3 are no different then any large SUV made by Toyota
Also the Hummer is not made anymore so posting about a Hummer makes you just as bad, bring up the past

 

the principal should make the "speaker" come back and correct all his mistakes


just like any teacher would do with a student.

 

I have to disagree with the 'don't publicly challenge the idiot' idea. Idiots spewing lies to children under the apparent support of the school should be publicly called to task, whether it be during the presentation or later on the web and through the school.

Unsupported lies ought not earn a living or influence youth.

 

^^Yes I would like to know what group this was, and the other question is how did they get invited?

 

I'm with you. Being thoroughly embarrassed in public by a ten year old is exactly what's needed here.

 

probably an o'bama advisor to gm.

 

if you can't get the speaker back then have the teachers make it an assignment to find the truth. it will help the kids learn to question life around them instead of being "sheep".


make a negative a positive


turn a frown upside down

 

I guess I'm just not as conspiratorial as a lot of you.

I totally think I'd be upset to hear that misinformation was presented. I think I might contact the school and calmly voice my displeasure and perhaps even ask that the counter information be presented.

But I can totally believe that this was just the case of a perhaps even a well meaning speaker that was simply miss-informed.

Trust Me. Outside of Prius Chat....there is a big world where people simply don't care as much about Hybrids. That's not an excuse for being wrong...but I do present it as a reason that someone might read a couple of the wrong articles and BE wrong.

Doesn't really mean there is an underground plot to poison the minds of school children to the idea of Hybrid Vehicles.

Don't get me wrong, it's very, very regretable that on a schools ECO day, a speaker would present this opinion as fact.

But as already stated, this type of misinformation and opinion spin exists in humanity and our culture. There really is a chance to teach an even bigger lessson here....perhaps to the child, the children and even the school.

But I don't think we necessarily need to "Follow The Money" or plant listening devices in the Principals Office...or do a stake out....

Even though I am up for it...because it sounds like fun...and we all know most Hybrids are whisper quiet at School Zone speeds.

 

I did not one but two speeches at Toastmasters meetings about hybrids and the Prius in particular. I used a lot of facts to support the car, even brought in pictures of CONS gage showing MPGs well into the 50s.

One thing I learned from doing the speeches is it might be better to appeal to people on an emotional level. Like 'how would you like to be in a car that's totally quiet for however long you are stopped at that horrible light? ' or How would you like to hear your favorite music much better in the car in town instead of an engine constantly running in the background".

Or, the big one ... how would you, after 450 miles, like to fill up your gas tank for a mere $35 instead of the typical 55 to $60 it would cost for the same distance?

8th graders wouldn't care about cost of filling up, but they would like to hear their iPod better in a car.

 

It would be good to get the name(s), website and contact info for the outfit that did the 'eco'? presentation at the school.