In a study a few years ago, it was found that a Toyota Prius produces more emissions pollution in it’s lifetime than a big SUV like a Land Rover Discovery or a Hummer. According to the website Worldcarfans.com, Toyota itself showed that the Prius was below average compared to other cars regarding emissions. It was also found that the Prius was also below average in manufacturing emissions when compared with other cars in it’s class. This is the achilles heel of the Prius. Although it may use very little gas and produce few emissions when being driven, the process of actually making it outweighs the good it does when it’s being driven.
It is noble that people are willing to forgo speed, and in most cases good handling, to help preserve our earth, but most buyers of hybrids are in it for the wrong reason. If you buy it to save gas, thats fine. If you live in Santa Rosa and have to commute everyday to San Francisco, the money saved from not having to use a lot of gas can be substantial. But when people buy a hybrid as a statement of their commitment to save the earth, it’s just wrong.
The process of making a hybrid car is what causes it to pollute so much. Most Hybrids use nickel-metal hydride batteries. Even though these batteries can in fact be recycled, actually mining and making these batteries pollutes. Other materials that go into making a hybrid, are copper and other rare earth materials. Lithium, used to make the magnets in the batteries, is also causing a fair amount of pollution. China has a monopoly on lithium, and a reason for why they can export so much so fast is that the Chinese government simply ignores environmental safeguards. You also need to take in account how the materials for these cars to be made actually get around (such as shipping the nickel from a mine in Canada to Europe to be refined) Toyota itself, according to the New York Times, acknowledges that hybrid car production is more carbon dioxide heavy than that of gas-engine cars.
What people need to learn is that there is no reason to ditch their cars in favor of these hybrids. Keeping a car longer could actually be helpful for the environment. If people don’t constantly buy a new car every few years, less energy will go into making them. There are some very simple ways to improve the gas mileage of your current car and save money.
1. Get rid of unnecessary weight- If a car is jam packed with unnecessary things it will add weight to the car. Weight ruins performance, gas mileage, acceleration, and handling. When a car is weighed down too much the engine will have to work harder to move the bulk around and in turn use more gas.
2. Don’t drive aggressively- If you constantly slam on the brakes or accelerate hard your car is wasting gas. If you drive at a steady pace, minimizing hard braking or acceleration, you’ll save gas. Using cruise control is an easy way to improve your miles per gallon as well.
3. Windows up or down?- When driving around town having your windows down and air conditioning off will actually use less gas. But once you get up to highway speeds having the air conditioning on and windows rolled up will use less gas.
4. Proper car maintenance- Simple car maintenance like keeping your tires properly inflated to manufactures specifications will help you improve your car’s M.P.G. Also replacing dirty air filters, replenishing low fluids, and changing spark plugs can all help you save gas.
Tips like these are simple and easy and can help cut down the money you spend on gas. So why go out and buy a hybrid? With your current car you can actually help to save the environment. The process of building a hybrid makes them, besides saving gas, useless.
