Toyota Prius

[RobertN]

He did not slam it so much as describe why he parked his 7mpg Hummer H-1. With humor.

I rode in one, back forth to Richmond, Ca to go sailing. It was surprisingly comfortable. I think the general manufacture and eventual disposal of the batteries offsets any carbon footprint advantage of the mpg(not specific to Prius; most hybrids).

I didn't watch the Jeff Dunham video. No need to because, really, anyone who slams the Prius usually has a political agenda and has never driven one. I originally bought mine because of the high-tech nature of the thing, nothing to do with saving the planet.

 

[IslandTractor]

He did not slam it so much as describe why he parked his 7mpg Hummer H-1. With humor.

I rode in one, back forth to Richmond, Ca to go sailing. It was surprisingly comfortable. I think the general manufacture and eventual disposal of the batteries offsets any carbon footprint advantage of the mpg(not specific to Prius; most hybrids).

I often hear this claim about carbon footprint but have never seen the analysis. Do you have a reference?

 

[RobertN]

No, just speculation, and observation of how nasty battery production can be(remember Union Carbide/Bopal?). I have often heard both sides too, but never specific data points.

I often hear this claim about carbon footprint but have never seen the analysis. Do you have a reference?

 

[IslandTractor]

No, just speculation, and observation of how nasty battery production can be(remember Union Carbide/Bopal?). I have often heard both sides too, but never specific data points.

I found this study from MIT that suggests about 90% of lifetime carbon footprint is from fuel consumed by the vehicle or production of the fuel. Sounds like manufacturing and disposal is not that big a part of the picture.

http://web.mit.edu/sloan-auto-lab/research/beforeh2/files/weiss_otr2020.pdf

I wonder if Toyota has ever addressed this directly and if so what critical review of their numbers show.

 

[RobertN]

It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison. I have seen claims of 55mpg from folks with VW TDI's. That would be an interesting comparison.

It appears that article might review that; have to look at it closer this evening.

I found this study from MIT that suggests about 90% of lifetime carbon footprint is from fuel consumed by the vehicle or production of the fuel. Sounds like manufacturing and disposal is not that big a part of the picture.

http://web.mit.edu/sloan-auto-lab/research/beforeh2/files/weiss_otr2020.pdf

I wonder if Toyota has ever addressed this directly and if so what critical review of their numbers show.

 

[IslandTractor]

It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison. I have seen claims of 55mpg from folks with VW TDI's. That would be an interesting comparison.

It appears that article might review that; have to look at it closer this evening.

I'd take the VW diesel myself though they don't have the general reliability of the Prius. The new Ford Cmax appeals more than a Prius too.

 

[turnkey4099]

Old thread acknowledged here too but the debate is still relevant.

Not sure what you mean by factoring in depreciation. My point was simply that a Prius driven for roughly 180,000 miles (about ten years for average drivers) would save enough in gas to essentially pay for itself compared to an average car. In other words the gas savings pay for the Prius outright.

You'd better figure in a couple battery replacements into that.

Harry K

 

[joshuabardwell]

You didn't factor in a $14000 battery replacement to go 180K miles.

HS

The battery replacement is about three grand. The battery is warrantied for ten years or 100,000 miles.

 

[aczlan]

Neighbor got a Prius when they first came out, it replaced his early 80's VW Diesel pickup. Now has over 200k and still going strong on the first set of batteries. They love it and will probbaly buy another when it dies.
Having ridden in both, I would take Dad's '03 Jetta TDI though. More comfortable and has more getup and go.

Aaron Z

 

[brain55]

My wife has a 2009 Hybrid Camry which I believe has the same drive system as the Prius. She has 82k miles on it and has been virtually trouble free. We looked at the Prius, my wife didn't like the giant dash, and I didn't like the overall size, it was too compact for my likes. She is getting 36-38 mpg which was a huge improvement over her 2001 Chrysler 300M that got 19 mpg.