Scrap Toyota Prius: is it good for the environment?

T​HE TOYOTA PRIUS IS TERRIBLE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!

The Toyota Prius is one of the most popular hybrids to this day. However, is it as good as many people claim? That doesn’t seem to be the case this time. Many people claim this is the “ultimate green car;” however, it has become one of the most significant pollution sources in North America.

Some even dare say that the Toyota Prius can be less environmentally friendly than a Hummer, and that’s a lot to say.

The Toyota Prius’ architecture can be quite complicated, which means it will take more energy to produce it than other cars. This popular vehicle contains two engines, a gas engine, and an electric motor. The electric motor can make the car go around 25mph, and after that, the gas engine will start working. So, it seems like this car was made to save as many resources as possible.

Yes, all this sounds like a trip to a flower field, but the reality is much worse than that. During this car’s official release, Toyota wouldn’t stop boasting about the car’s supposedly 60 mpg and 51 mpg in highways. This is one of the main facts that made many people complete their purchases; however, some of them started complaining about the car not working as the company claimed it would after some time. An outdated test by EPA found out this statement to be true. 

However, this sounds terrible; it is just one of the main facts that make this car a wrong purchase. The second fact is directly related to the production of batteries for these cars; hybrids, to be specific. It was only a matter of time until it was discovered that the nickel batteries are not environmentally friendly, according to Dan from Car Removal Perth, a local car disposal company based in Perth!

The batteries for the Toyota Prius are manufactured in Sudbury, Ontario. It is known that this plant causes enormous environmental damages to Sudbury’s surroundings, and there are no signs of life around the “dead zone,” the same area the NASA used to test moon rovers. One thousand tons of these batteries are produced yearly. Imagine all the damage this can cause. However, this is just the start of this process.

After processed, the nickel is sent to Europe, then travels to China and then is polished in Japan. There is a lot of energy invested in creating one battery if we count all the factories used to complete the product.

If you take this fact and compare it to a Hummer battery’s production process, you can conclude that building a Prius takes about 50% more energy than completing a Hummer.

So well, to summarize, a Prius (and all hybrids) is not precisely what the companies and enthusiasts think it is. When you purchase a Prius, you’re empowering and giving the company more ways to keep manufacturing batteries that are heavily damaging to the planet.

One thing that many people recommend if you want to help save the planet is buying a subcompact that uses a PZEV rated engine. Not only will you save money, but the planet will thank you in the long-run.