Hi -- I am shopping for a prius and am new to hybrids. It's clear that the prius vs hummer debate was silly and full of misinformation. Still, it is important to me to become informed before making a big purchase like this. Where can I find an accurate source of information detailing the life cycle analysis of the prius. Environmental degradation of battery production/disposal vs CO2 emissions. I wonder at what point the break even point is ... in other words ... at what point (if any) does the reduction in CO2 emissions outweigh the environmental cost associated with the hybrid battery system? Thanks so much, I know there must be non-propaganda answers out there, I'm just not sure where. :/
There are several huge long threads on this and I don't have time to dig out all he info. Environmental - Prius Wiki should help. http://web.archive.org/web/20090612061919/http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/k_forum/tenji/pdf/pgr_e.pdf discusses CO2 and other pollutants vs. a conventional car. Lifespan/Operating costs - Prius Wiki should also help dispel the silly claim that Priuses only last on average of 109K miles.
I am not too familiar with the prius vs hummer debate but it seem like you would fundamentally be comparing the environmental impacts of the prius NiMH battery vs about 15,000 gallons of gasoline.
^^^ Besides that, we're talking about those 15,000 gallons of gasoline that comes from oil that must be explored for, drilled for, pumped, shipped, and refined. The finished product (gasoline) must then be shipped and carried as dead weight in a vehicle. The US imports about 1/2 of its oil from other counrties. Those 15K gallons of gasoline weigh 94,500 pounds and burning it would release 300K pounds of CO2 + other pollutants. The Hummer H2 has a curb weight of 6400+ lbs, which is more than double the curb weight of the Prius available at the time the CNW junk science was done (2890 lbs for my 06). How about the resources need to manufacture the former? The NiMH pack weighs <100 lbs. and has only 32 lbs of nickel (which has an 80% recycling rate already per Mr. Green's Web-Only Mailbag - November/December 2007 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club).
As a guy this gives the finger to ever hummer he sees this post really hits home for me. The fact is that ev car/ hybrid car battery's are about 90-95% recyclable and gasoline is not. Further more as I read the question break ever price, is really asking what is the price I would put on my sons planet he will live on. I'm not some tree huggin type of person. Really I'm just a average guy that's got basically can only hope to break even and the mpg the car gives me helps. The batters while yes will not last forever last as long as any part on a normal car, and this this part is not going to end up in a junk yard.
