Shouldn’t this be categorized under Toyota and not GM?

This is a great story, but it’s filed under GM, and I don’t think GM is doing anything special here, so I haven’t rated it.

It definitely is important to consider the total amount of energy consumed throughout the life of a product. I hadn’t considered the harmful effects of battery production — that’s definitely something to consider. But I wonder how these numbers are crunched and whether everything is in fact taken into account. For example, since the Prius uses less gasoline, shouldn’t we consider all the energy, pollution, and other harmful effects (displaced people, government corruption, etc) that goes into drilling for oil, building pipelines, building oil tankers, building refineries, etc?

I’d love to see a complete study of this — that would be fascinating.

New technologies, until they reach some point of mass production, will be more wasteful because of inefficiencies in customization. Somewhat heartening, the Scion is one of the lowest energy use cars, meaning there are alternatives. It’s small, efficient, and mass-produced.

As always. consider the source. It is from a marketing company, likely paid for by the Detroit car makers, and as always, one needs to check the underlying assumptions. Statistics don’t lie, but the people that spout them do; estimated numbers are easy to twist.

For an interesting assessment of the efficiency of green policies, examining the contradictions, try Hard Green by Huber. It lacks substantiation but is thought-provoking.

I had a feeling I would get a “I’m not sure how to rate this” response.

My initial leaning was to put it under Toyota, because it illustrates how the Prius has been mis-marketed as the panacea of efficient automotive transportation.

I eventually put it under GM as a more of tongue-in-cheek gesture; since the commentary applies equally to GM as it does to Toyota, I thought it would be interesting to credit the Hummer with at least being straightforward in its representation as a gas-guzzler.

I have removed my rating, and I’ll likely switch it over to Toyota in the near future, as it will be less confusing this way…

Just doing this for sales?? Have some Indie Body study these tests Then submit. Indie Body not tied to Automotive Ind. Any car maker BUT true Consumer orientation. Hummer weighs more has to drink more Fuel. Data is OFF or skewed at worst. Oh Yes for every NEW GM, Ford car U buy U pay $15,000 in UAW benefits to workers. No Ill get my Used 2004 Vette. No more GM for me. NO new GM for me. The 15,000 is in the cars price overall & or with Options. ALL models.

If you read the article you will find out that the problem is not the Prius itself but the production process of the nickel that is causing the pollution. I think the article is biased in that aspect because if you evaluate both cars in with all the environmental impacts the Hummer represents the largest amount of metal, plastic and fuel consumption over it’s lifetime… As far a the nickel production goes it’s obvious that better pollution control is needed…