TOP GEAR

[Robbo SPS]

ITS BACK. STARTED TONIGHT BBC2 2000HRS.

Had my crying with laughter at one point..

[redstu]

good viewing as always, intersting to see that an M3 is more fuel efficeint than a prius!

[ewan]

good viewing as always, intersting to see that an M3 is more fuel efficeint than a prius!

Well it might be if you compare an M3 at barely more than tickover to a Prius being ragged around the track...
It always amuses me to see a Prius hooning down the fast lane on the motorway. I want to pull the driver over and tell him how inefficient his choice of wagon is, since he's getting no benefit (at speed) from the hybrid technology, yet he's burning more fuel to drag the batteries and motors around...

[redstu]

Of course what I should have said is "can" be, the prius was out of place to be balanced the bbc should have put both in an urban environment , but there would be no fun in that.
It would also be interesting to see what the total whole of life "carbon" costs are as well, again a bit dull , maybe 5th gear will do it!

[ewan]

It would also be interesting to see what the total whole of life "carbon" costs are as well, again a bit dull , maybe 5th gear will do it!

Well, the Inco Superstack plant in Ontario (where the nickel for the Piious' batteries is processed) isn't a place *I'd* want to live near - http://www.bookrags.com/research/sudbury-ontario-enve-02/

From http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188:

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.

Of course, the acid rain killed everything before they built one of the world's tallest chimneys to belch the suplhur dioxide higher into the atmosphere and spread it around a bit more. I honestly think the authorities should force hybrid manufacturers (and for that matter, everyone else) to declare the true carbon footprint of manufacture and transport, rather than getting hung up on average MPG or CO₂ figures.

<climbs off hobbyhorse>