Prius Perception

[Bray12]

I am currently writing a dissertation (Thesis) on this title, i am looking for opinions and it would be great to hear your thoughts as to whether the Prius has changed the way you view Toyota, for instance being more environmentally friendly? Thank you.

[Red diesel]

Best wishes with the thesis Bray12 - ive all of this ahead of me in a couple of years time lol as im a student too

Regarding your very interesting question - strange as it may seem the Prius hasn't changed the way i view Toyota, as a car enthusiast im used

to car manufacturers bringing out new ideas. The Prius attracts more attention because its innovations are more publicily recognised than

say who invented ABS for example.

I think the Lexus LS 400s introduction to the world in 1989/1990 probably changed my view of Toyota more than the Prius, yes the Prius is a very interesting product but the Lexus rocked the boat of the luxury car market harder than the Prius has done in the normal car market.

In any case i reckon that the drama over the recalls has done more harm to the Toyota brand (tarnished reliability reputation) than any positive

impact that the Prius has done. In saying all of this - there is no doubt that Prius has being a very successful product and helps keep

the Toyota brand in peoples attention span in a positive way.

I would also ask this question in the Prius section of this forum if you don't get much replies here in general discussions

Red diesel

[Raistlin]

Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius.

As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a Battery which contains nickel.

The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers.

The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ Battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there.

The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe.

From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius Battery.

Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?

Wait, I haven’t even got to the best part yet.

When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer – the Prius’s arch nemesis.

Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle.

The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles – the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles.

That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

So, if you are really an environmentalist – ditch the Prius.

[Phoenix999]

....The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles....

Now that reminds me of Surrey ;)

[Raistlin]

....The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles....

Now that reminds me of Surrey ;)

I think you will find it was Reigate, Mozambique

[Phoenix999]

....The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles....

Now that reminds me of Surrey ;)

I think you will find it was Reigate, Mozambique

You might be right.... damn that sat-nav :ffs: