Have You Hugged a Hummer Today?

[Renamon 0]

Well? Have you?

 

Spinella spent two years on the most comprehensive study to date – dubbed "Dust to Dust" -- collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a car from the initial conception to scrappage. He even included in the study such minutia as plant-to-dealer fuel costs of each vehicle, employee driving distances, and electricity usage per pound of material. All this data was then boiled down to an "energy cost per mile" figure for each car

 

Inspired by the 'Favourite type of car' thread.

[Alphabear 11]

[Doctor Destiny 41]

I find nothing amusing. If you have nothing to say, go be stupid somewhere else.

[Alphabear 11]

I originally thought it was meant to be amusing. However looking into it they were serious so when i get home from uni i will start taking it apart.

[Alphabear 11]

Ok lets take a look at the "research" done by CNW Marketing Research (an automotive marketing company. Alarm bells going off yet?). One of the major things that you need to make sure of when doing research is that the methods are valid and you have correct data. However CNW have never allowed access to their methodology for peer-review. In other words they are not showing us how they went about doing their research, only the conclusions they came up with.

 

To start things off, yes there is more energy needed to build a hybrid because parts for the hummer for example are far easier to acquire. One of the main reasons CNW claim the Prius does more damage to the environment is because of the production of the batteries, specifically the Nickel. They make claims that the smelter in Canada where Toyota gets its nickel from has been causing large scale environmental damage. However the studies used were based on 2 lakes located close to a smelter that ended up closing 25 years prior to the Prius being released. Also the amount of Nickel Toyota order was 1000 tones (thats for their whole range, not just the prius) which is negligible compared to the 267,000 it produces each year.

 

Another claim that was used to back up their findings is that there is no second hand parts market for hybrid cars and the batteries aren't reused. Well naturally the hummer is going to have a better second hand spare parts market because of the age of the models. Parts for cars like hummers for example are more easily exchangeable because they work the same as other models. Hybrid cars on the other hand have only been on the market for a few years and are more unique. As for the not recycling of batteries I have no idea how CNW could have come up with that as Toyota has been recycling every part of the batteries for almost a decade.

 

Thats all from me for now. If i feel compelled i will write more later

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Parts for 'green cars' are just as accessible and reusable; it's not exclusive to guzzler vehicles. A Prius is still a Toyota and can use other Toyota parts. Your claim here is ineffective since vehicle parts can be changed out and reused 90% of the time, even on green cars. Age has nothing to do with interchangeability.

 

Besides, Toyota is not the only producer of green cars. Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and a couple other manufacturers have green and hybrid models.

 

Your ramblings and, subsequently, the OP's article are a load of ****.

[Alphabear 11]

No you misunderstood that section. I apologise for how it may have been worded as i wrote it shortly after arriving home from uni. Art Spinella is claiming that parts aren't reused from the Prius and using this to make up a large percentage of its overall energy costs.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

For an automotive marketing dude, he sure knows **** all about cars and their parts. :roll:

 

Of all people, he should understand interchangeability better than any of us. Apparently not though.