This carbon footprint caculator is a good start. Carbon Footprint Calculator Cars put out CO2 which acts as a blanket on the planet and increases heat which causes all kinds of problems. A hummer belches out more carbon that a Prius. Much More. To divert the argument that building any car is a problem is avoiding the problem since we need a car to get to work etc. Building a clean omission pipe and driving it for 11 years the typical life span of a car give or take a few years is less CO2 than building a Hummer and driving that bad boy 11 years. So the Prius is the less of the 2 evils.
Im not flippin the bird to the driver, its to the H2 and the H3. The thing has no point other than being big. the H1 has a point other than being big. As far uncivilized our civilization will come to a end because things that have no point. I also never have nor would I ever claim to be anything other than a uncivilized barbarian only slightly better than a caveman.
I don't flip the bird to uber-monstrosity battering ram of death drivers (I'd put the H2, H1 and Ford Excursion (aka Exxon Valdez) in that category), but they really annoy me. H1 sightings are real rare around here. H2 and Excretion sightings aren't so uncommon. H2s have curb weights of 6400+ lb. pounds. Excursions have curb weights of 6600+ lbs, some getting into the 7000+ lb. range. For some context of curb weight vs other vehicles, take a look at Prius as a functioning family vehicle | Page 2 | PriusChat and Fisker Karma in the Wild | PriusChat. And, keep in mind kinetic energy = 1/2 * mass * velocity^2. Much worse to be hit by a 6400+ lb. battering ram of death vs. a ~3000-3500 lb. midsized car. Whenever see an H1, H2 or Excursion running around esp. when driven solo and/or w/minimal cargo and passengers, it tells me the driver has the attitude of "I don't give a crap about the safety of other drivers. I don't care about our dependence on foreign oil. I'm clueless about the military interventions and sacrifices our military has made to secure our supply of oil. I don't see the connection between driving my battering ram of death and national security. I don't care or I am a complete disbeliever in AGW. I don't know about or don't care about the other consequences associated w/oil (e.g. burning it, spills, etc.) In short, I don't care about the consequences of my actions on others." The H3 isn't nearly as bad as the H2, H1 and Excursion. The H3's fuel economy is somewhat poor for its size. It's in the same territory is heavier, larger full-sized SUVs (aka battering rams of death like Tahoes, Expeditions, Suburbans, Escalades, etc.). In terms of curb weight, it's not quite as heavy as BRoDs, fortunately. The problem is the H3 was introduced last and has the stigma of being associated w/the H1 and H2.
I got ICEd at a charging station by a regular Prius last week. Seems even some Prius drivers don't know how to read signage.
Re: the Excursion being the Exxon Valdez, for those who don't remember, see ET 3/99: Ford's new gas-guzzling SUV wins the "Exxon Valdez" award from the Sierra Club.
Look guys and gals I know my behavior on the road distresses meany of you and for that I am sorry. I totally get that I'm not not helping a cause and I also get that I'm ultimately still driving a gas car that burns the same stuff as them. Believe me if I could go electric I would in a heart beat. With all that said I would also like to explain a little more. The Hummer focus of my hate of oversized vehicle because it the one that really put that type of on the map. Yes they are many others of similar size but mainly as a response to hummer from other automakers. I also greatly dislike meany SUV and trucks because they don't have a point other than being big. This also a part of my hypermiling strategy. It gives me an opponent to face, a reason not to get lazy, a drive to drive better. Due to thing wholly out side of my realm of control I drive lots and lots of miles and spend hours and hours in the car. I need something to help keep myself motivated and more importantly awake. I get that some of you may not get it and still judge me as rude and uncouth person. Honestly I don't care though. This whole thread has gone way off course from the OP. This whole thread should us ranting about p.o.s. vehicles like the Hummer. Not all of standing in a circle and shooting in at ourselves. Now I'm going to go hunt a rat with a rock and roast it on a pointy stick by the fire.
Sorry but you are completely dead wrong. The link for the rebuttal has already been pointed out. Read it, and learn it so you stop spewing this FUD to other people.
May I opine that much of what passes for "green" is fraudulent, in that vast resources are often poured into things that don't yield enough savings to justify the investment? And some "green" enterprises are DOA, such as Solyndra, Range Fuels, A123 Battery, etc. But I don't want to argue the specific cases; just noting that real-world answers are sometimes messy. For example, ethanol is renewable, but does our corn-based ethanol production absorb more energy than it produces? Anyway, yeah, the assertion that a Hummer doesn't have a larger environmental footprint than a Prius is not necessarily untenable, though it would certainly be counterintuitive. These are technical questions, and it would be nice if we could get honest technical answers, not filtered through the distorting lens of politics. I always start by simply looking at the raw (unsubsidized!) price of a thing. It's not the final word, but the market price gives you a sense of how many resources went into producing that thing. So the cheaper thing likely starts with an edge in terms of environmental impact. In that sense, those that buy a Prius to save money in the long run are being naturally green. It's good when we actually get rewarded for doing the right thing; too often life seems to work the other way around. And there's no need to beat people into submission when we should be able to seduce them. It stands to reason that it takes fewer resources to manufacture a traditional car than a hybrid car of similar proportions. The hybrid has more technology and it costs more. Presumably in the long run the hybrid catches up and beats the traditional car. But out of the gate, it's at a disadvantage. I'm perusing these forums because I think the Prius C is neat, and I may end up buying one. But my own sense of "green" makes me want to keep nursing my old clunker along, figuring there's an environmental footprint of almost nil to keep it running, since it's already been manufactured and all I have to do is put gas and oil in it. Yes, nothing is greener than NOT buying any car at all! But if I do decide to buy, the Prius looks good.
Just wanted to reiterate how much cluelessness DoPeY5007 is.expressing... Do a google search and you can see from multiple sources that the complex hydrocarbons of one gallon of gasoline burned in an engine is broken down into roughly 19 pounds of CO2. Now the life of a crappy quality Hummer is going to be a miracle if it gets to 200,000 miles before it's dead. And at 8 MPG, but lets be generous and give it the false claim of 10 mpg, which equals 20,ooo gallons of gas times 19 pounds of CO2 per gallon and you get 380,000 pounds of Co2 produced by a Hummer over the life of the vehicle, though I doubt a Hummer has ever been driven that many miles without falling apart. Now lets give a Prius a generous 50 mpg in the lifespan of 200,000 miles, even though most Prius go much further than that amount of miles before they're sent to the wrecker. But for the sake of argument a prius traveling 200,00 miles requires 4000 gallons of gas times 19 pounds of CO2, which adds up to roughly 76,000 pounds of CO2 produced. With basic math like this it's clear that DoPey5007 advocates for an additional 300,000 pounds of greenhouse gas produced as being "more eco-conscious" than a car that produces way less than a 1/3 that amount. If DoPey5007 isn't getting paid by the oil companies to lie to everyone, I'd like to do all I can to make sure he does. I mean he's good at what he does. Let me know how you I can help you make more money? You're really bold in what you say. Of course in googling you I've found that the only reality you live in is gaming... Look at this: • • • ĐøƤĕỸ • • • (DoPeY5007) on Twitter Totally hilarious!
All you need to know are in the links of post #9 and #24. The assertion that a Hummer has a smaller environmental footprint than a Prius is absolutely ridiculous. At the time the claims were made, the Gen 2 Prius was the latest generation. You mean to tell me that a ~2890 lb. car w/a ~100 lb. NiMH battery containing ~32 lbs of nickel rated at 46 mpg combined is less environmentally friendly than 6400+ lb. battering ram of death that isn't even rated for fuel economy (due to its GVWR being >8500 lbs.) which I typically hear averages 9 to 11 mpg? Besides that, per the link in post 9 (and the studies it points), the VAST MAJORITY (~70 to 90%) of the energy consumed in the life of a vehicle is confused during its use, NOT its manufacture. Also, the CNW junk science had the ridiculous claim that Priuses somehow last only 109K miles when the HV battery itself is warranted for 10 years/150K miles in CA and 8 years/100K miles everywhere else. Lifespan/Operating costs - Prius Wiki has TOTALLY debunked that ridiculous claim. Not true at all. Burning each gallon of gasoline produces ~20 pounds of CO2. I picked some cars you can take a look at in terms of tons per year of CO2 emitted at Compare Side-by-Side. Go to the 2nd tab and change units to US tons per year. Besides that, there are numerous harmful pollutants in vehicle exhaust. See About the Ratings | Green Vehicle Guide | US EPA. The standards have gotten tigher over time. See the charts there. Yep. Besides that, that extra 16,000 gallons of gasoline weighs 100,800 pounds. That comes from oil that must be explored for, drilled for, extracted, shipped, refined (more energy input needed), shipped again, pumped and then carried as dead weight in a car.
Ok it's my turn to have some fun. Everyone that drives a Prius is a Gay, Tree Hugging, Liberal, Democrat that thinks everyone else is an idiot. WOW! Now seriously, we know that's not true, even if it's Blue. If you enjoy owning a Prius, good for you. If you don't want one, good for you. That's your business, and your right. Personally if I had the means, I would have an H1 and Lamborghini parked on either side of my Prius. Be careful what you ask for people, one day the Government might take away something you like. What do you mean I can't have a Big Gulp? Damn, these chips taste like crap now. Anyone got a light? Learn to laugh at yourself and just be happy. Brakes set.
Consider that your current vehicle, if traded toward a new Prius C, will most likely displace an even older, less effecient, higher poluting vehicle in someone else's garage. A trickle down effect of sorts. If your current vehicle will go direct to the scrap yard, then you might be correct. There is a lot of energy embedded into the production of any vehicle, although some of it is recovered in recycling.
