<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2912" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>List,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There was some talk a while ago about quiet cars and I thingt this would be interesting to you.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>William</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="http://clubs.ccsu.edu:80/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188">http://clubs.ccsu.edu:80/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188</A><BR>Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage<BR>By Chris Demorro<BR>Staff Writer</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>----</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so<BR>environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show<BR>the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate 'green<BR>car' is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes<BR>more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Before we delve into the seedy underworld of hybrids, you must first<BR>understand how a hybrid works. For this, we will use the most popular hybrid<BR>on the market, the Toyota Prius.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Prius is powered by not one, but two engines: a standard 76 horsepower,<BR>1.5-liter gas engine found in most cars today and a battery- powered engine<BR>that deals out 67 horsepower and a whooping 295ft/lbs of torque, below 2000<BR>revolutions per minute. Essentially, the Toyota Synergy Drive system, as it<BR>is so called, propels the car from a dead stop to up to 30mph. This is where<BR>the largest percent of gas is consumed. As any physics major can tell you,<BR>it takes more energy to get an object moving than to keep it moving. The<BR>battery is recharged through the braking system, as well as when the<BR>gasoline engine takes over anywhere north of 30mph. It seems like a great<BR>energy efficient and environmentally sound car, right?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You would be right if you went by the old government EPA estimates, which<BR>netted the Prius an incredible 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 miles<BR>per gallon on the highway. Unfortunately for Toyota, the government realized<BR>how unrealistic their EPA tests were, which consisted of highway speeds<BR>limited to 55mph and acceleration of only 3.3 mph per second. The new tests<BR>which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway<BR>speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second. This has dropped the<BR>Prius's EPA down by 25 percent to an average of 45mpg. This now puts the<BR>Toyota within spitting distance of cars like the Chevy Aveo, which costs<BR>less then half what the Prius costs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>However, if that was the only issue with the Prius, I wouldn't be writing<BR>this article. It gets much worse.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that<BR>is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the<BR>Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is<BR>mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so<BR>much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used<BR>the 'dead zone' around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the<BR>plant is devoid of any life for miles.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius' battery and<BR>Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the<BR>plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming<BR>every environmentalist's nightmare.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the<BR>soil slid down off the hillside," said Canadian Greenpeace<BR>energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a<BR>British-based newspaper.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to<BR>make a hybrid doesn't end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous<BR>plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery<BR>in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce 'nickel<BR>foam.' From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are<BR>shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required<BR>to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like<BR>environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wait, I haven't even got to the best part yet.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a<BR>Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50<BR>percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius's arch nemesis.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Through a study by CNW Marketing called "Dust to Dust," the total combined<BR>energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials<BR>(metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected<BR>lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven<BR>over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on<BR>the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer<BR>will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing<BR>it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, if you are really an environmentalist - ditch the Prius. Instead, buy<BR>one of the most economical cars available - a Toyota Scion xB. The Scion<BR>only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still<BR>obsessed over gas mileage - buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One last fun fact for you: it takes five years to offset the premium price<BR>of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a<BR>non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses.<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>PIANO BOUTIQUE<BR>William Benjamin<BR>Piano Tuner Extraordinaire<BR><A href="http://www.pianoboutique.biz">www.pianoboutique.biz</A><BR>The tuner alone,<BR>preserves the tone.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>