How much better is the CO2 emissions on a Toyota Prius vs. a regular Honda Civic?

Question

I recently calculated my CO2 footprint and am quite bothered by my environmental impact. I work 40 miles from my house and while I do take commuter rail 2 days a week I still end up driving approx. 2000 miles a month. While I drive a fairly efficient car (2003 Honda Civic Coupe, 35MPG) I'm curious how my environmental impact would be improved if I bought a Toyota Prius. What would the CO2 output difference between these two vehicles would amount to?

Answer 1

Other things to consider are the types of driving you encounter.  At 80 miles round trip, it sounds like you are logging more highway than city miles.  If that's the case, then the conventional gasoline engine starts catching up to the hybrid (the hybrid is a SULEV, while the Civic gasoline is a ULEV - at that point, you are pretty much talking fuel efficiency as the determining factor when it comes to CO2 output.)

Personally, if I were you, I'd hold out a little longer for the next-generation Prius that's rumored to get 94 mpg and is available with plug-in as a factory option.  The plug in feature could possibly let you go all-electric to the commuter rail station.  Together with 94 mpg, you could take a huge bite out of your fuel consumption vs just a nibble.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/04/...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/...

Answer 2

While you could draw a very favourable conclusion based on the consumption data supplied in specifications. It is most important to realise that at highway speeds hybrids are not at their best. The internal combustion engine runs continuously at high speed. There will be a slight advantage to the hybrid as the motor is slightly smaller and will be a little more efficient. General design is a bit better also.

The Hybrid really shines in heavy stop start traffic this is where it will make a significant difference.

Not knowing what mix of driving it is quite hard to give you any real idea. If you are getting 35mpg out of the Honda. (Quite good).  I wouldn't' expect a huge improvement from the Prius.(maybe 10 -15%) (emissions are directly proportional to fuel used)

Oh and by the way Honda also make a quite good hybrid version of the civic. Pretty much on par with the Prius.

http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-hybri...

To reduce your footprint I would suggest taking the train a few more times a week. (Motorcycle???)  Moving closer to work or moving work closer to home.(if possible) You could also invest in a grid connected wind, tidal,geothermic or solar power system.

Answer 3

A Prius has 104 g/km of CO2 emissions:

http://www.hybridsynergydrive.com/en/pri...

While a Civic coupe has 166 - 185 g/km of CO2 emissions:

http://cars.yahoo.co.uk/browse_100354123...

So basically a Prius is about 65% better on CO2 emissions than a Civic coupe.

Or in terms of raw numbers, 1 Kilometer = 0.62137 Miles, so if you're driving 2000 miles/month (3219 km), you're emitting 550 kg of CO2, and with a Prius would be emitting 335 kg of CO2, so you have an extra 115 kg of CO2 emissions every month in comparison.

Addressing 3DM's comments below: for starters, the Prius still gets at least 45 mpg on the freeway.  Also, a plug-in version of the Prius won't be available for approximately 5 years.

Answer 4

greatly different...a prius is a SULEV which stands for Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle where as a Civic would probably be LEV or maybe ULEV.  The Prius lets out ALMOST no CO2 and is the best choice for limiting your carbon footprint