I've read that the Toyota Prius is more environmentally damaging than a Hummer is this true?

Question

The article I read stated that because of the dual engines and the batteries, the Prius does more damage to the environment than the Hummer.

Answer 1

"This has been proven false, but rumors have a way of living on, like Dracula"

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Sort of like global warming. And the popular belief that Toyotas are still more efficient and more reliable than American cars.

Answer 2

most of the pollution from cars happens when they are manufactured. hybrids and hummers alike.

we have to dismantle civilization.

Answer 3

This has been proven false, but rumors have a way of living on, like Dracula

Answer 4

Toyota factory

Last updated at 09:34am on 9th May 2007

It has come to our attention that a story originally published in the Mail on Sunday has apparently been misinterpreted by some of our readers.

In order to prevent further misinterpretation, we have removed the article from our website. The following letter was published in the Mail on Sunday on May 13, 2007:

Your article about the Inco nickel factory at Sudbury, Canada, wrongly implied that poisonous fumes from the factory had left the area looking like a lunar landscape because so many plants and trees had died. You also sought to blame Toyota because the nickel is used, among countless other purposes, for making the Prius hybrid car batteries.

In fact any damage occurred more than thirty years ago, long before the Prius was made. Since then, Inco has reduced sulphur dioxide emissions by more than 90 per cent and has helped to plant more than 11 million trees.

The company has won praise from the Ontario Ministry of Environment and environmental groups. Sudbury has won several conservation awards and is a centre for eco-tourism.

Dave Rado

Colchester

Answer 5

Nope.  Lousy science.  This link gives a short summary, and a further link to a seven page report by real scientists about the truth.

http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integrity_...

It is true that some factories which produce nickel for batteries are polluters on a local level.  Those need to be fixed.

But that doesn't mean hybrids are bad for the world.  They're one of the many tools we need to fight global warming.

Answer 6

This is George Will attempting to be clever.  However, common sense dictates otherwise.  Consumption is destroying the Earth, and Hummers are temples of consumption.

Answer 7

The factory that makes the batteries for the Prius kills all plant life around it for like 300 feet..

Answer 8

I would like to know which right-wing nut job spread this rumor.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO PUT CAR BATTERIES IN A LANDFILL. A repair shop has to have an environmental company come out to pick up the batteries or else they will be fined big bucks. Once they get there they are broken down, the chemicals are dumped out and whatever can be recycled is. Whatever can't be recycled is incinerated in super-hot kilns with many protective filters to keep the air clean and odor free.

Answer 9

It is remarkable that certain people jump at rumor faster than investigating truths. NO! Electric vehicles are not more damaging than combustion cars. Stop the rumors now for unless you actually know what the truth is don't say anything. When GMC had their EV1 electric car they cost upwards from $32,000.00 and you could not own one...just lease it. They then recalled all of them and junked the lot. They were good cars too.

Spartawo...

Answer 10

This is rarely true.  

However, a Prius that runs into a gasoline tank truck thereby causing a major spill is initially more environmentally damaging than a Hummer that fails to hit the tank truck.  

But over its remaining lifetime, the Hummer will catch up by burning an equivalent amount of fuel in its engine compartment, so things even out.