[ben parrish]

Randy, I hope you are not taking this personal. I respect your opinions and often agree with your posts. I like a good debate and I am certainly not an anti-enviromentalist. I am all for more efficient cars being available; I just don't believe the Prius is as great a leap forward as many say.


"The energy(CO2) required to produce two engines will always be more than a car requiring one. " Coventional wisdom

The energy required to mine, refine, assemble and transport all the Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH) batteries far exceeds the energy needed to produce one lead acid battery. Again, conventional wisdom. Too many steps involved and too many factories needed

Sure the batteries can be recycled but, as everyone knows, the cost and energy used to recycle anything is greater than starting from scratch.
There are a few items that are less expensive to recycle than manufacture/refine. Aluminum and glass art the two most common. Many papers and websites discuss this in depth.

The Prisus makes up for all the increased energy and CO2 emissions by reporting that the cars emissions are less than conventional model.
This is partly true. The reduced emissions reported are derived from a controlled test with consideration given to the typical owner using it primarily as an urban vehicle. Estimated travel speeds are less than 40mph and there the Hybrid vehicle does shine because the internal combustion engine is not running. The batteries are providing power to the motor and the brakes are helping to recharge the batteries. EPA mileage testing protocol. From the EPA website:
The city fuel economy estimate is currently based on the Federal
Test Procedure (FTP), which was designed to measure a vehicle's
tailpipe emissions under urban driving conditions. The driving cycle
used for the FTP was developed in the mid-1960's to represent home-to-
work commuting in Los Angeles. The FTP is also one of the tests used to
determine emissions compliance today. The FTP includes a series of
accelerations, decelerations, and idling (such as at stop lights). It
also includes starting the vehicle after it has been parked for an
extended period of time (called a ``cold start''), as well as a start
on a warmed-up engine (called a ``The total distance
covered by the FTP is about 11 miles and the average speed is about 21
mph
The truth though is that if the Prisus is driven head to head with a conventional automobile on the interstate(using it's gas engine), it is right on par with similar gas powered vehiclest . Convential wisdom , similar engines produce similar emmisions

As I said, I am not against having technology that helps the environment. I will purchase and promote products that actually deliver the results they claim. What I am against is the misrepresentation and belief that a product is better than it's competitors based on selective data compilation.

The Prius is a good car and I am glad that many are using them. Urban dwellers are the target market and the car will deliver great economy for the end user.
For those of us that do not live in urban environments, there is no benefit realized from driving this car versus another similar sized, conventional car.