Hey guys... this is pretty old news for some, but new for me. I remember reading a Acurazine member's comment about how the manufacturing of the Toyota Prius' battery completely wiped out the environment outside of the factory where it was being produced. I assumed it was a Japanese or Chinese factory that this had happened, but it turns out to be in Canada. Yep, that's right, right here in North America. It's very disturbing how the production of the Prius actually does more damage to our world than the lack of emissions of the road worthy car benefits the environment.

Check the article out for yoursef.

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1770

 

Oh...It's just Canada...What a relief.

 

I think most people buy it to save money on gas, i think only a few really care about the environment

 

Holy crap, that looks pretty bad.

 

 

Stop hating on the Asians....

 

Oh wait, its just Sudbury. Carry on.

 

Interesting.

 

I wonder where Honda gets their hybrid batteries?

 

...........LOL

 

I knew those cannucks were responsible for global warming.

 

I've been complaining about hybrids since day one. More pollution goes into making the batteries than is saved through the supposed fuel economy savings.

Ultracapacitors > Batteries

 

I want some more diesel choices - can't wait for new Hondas to come out using their new diesel engine.

 

Don't underestimate the lure of being able to thumb your nose pretentiously at everybody else who doesn't have to replace a $8000 battery bank ever five years while at the same time patting yourself on the back for "saving" the environment.

 

That picture looks like a bomb hit...

 

That's extremely misleading, though. Other cars' components are also shipped all over the world before the car arrives at your local dealership. Furthermore, that plant has been doing damage a lot longer than the prius has been available. AND we all have electronic devices that use nickel batteries...

 

The battery pack is warranty for ten-years or 150k miles here in California and several other states that have adopted CA's AT-PZEV regulations. There have been numerous PriusChat members who have over 200k miles on their original battery pack without serious degradation of performance. A new battery pack runs a bit less than $3000 and is equivalent to the price of rebuilding your Honda 5-speed slushbox.

 

 

"So many plants and trees around the factory at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, have died that astronauts from Nasa practised driving moon buggies on the outskirts of the city because it was considered the closest thing on earth to the rocky lunar landscape."

Actually, the astronauts went to study crater formation that gives rise to the rich mineral deposits in the area, not because the landscape was barren and looked like the moon. I know this fact has little to do with the thread topic, but I get pissed off everytime I hear that bullshit story.

And the lack of vegitation isn't primarily from the fallout from the "factory" (it's actually a smelter; they don't build anything, just extract metal). It's from a time in smelting historywhen they used roasting beds: ground-level pits of burning wood they would to heat the ore for smelting.

And it looks like they took that picture in the fall, when even normally green plants are turning brown. Just adds to the myth that the area is still barren. There were just too many technical innaccuracies in that article for my liking. But, I suppose I shouldn't expect much from an article that quotes Green Peace...f*^#ing hippies.

Having said that, there's no doubting the environmental impact of the process to the region. That picture isn't bad: it used to look much worse 30 years ago (although much of the region looks considerably better due to regreening efforts on the part of what was once Inco).

 

Somebody should send a link to that story to Martin Eberhard.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I've wanted to get a diesel for awhile, just can't bring myself to buying another VW.


In NoVa, it's because they could drive in the HOV Lanes. They stopped it last year. If you didn't have special tags before July 2006, you can't drive in them during rush hour.

 

Another misleading sensationalism news story... it has a few of you already hooked and reeled in.


While the pollution sucks, it's so sad they have to deliver the news this way to get anyone to pay attention to it.