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Tank vs. HybridIs it possible that a Hummer's better for the environment than a Prius is?

By Brendan I. Koerner
Posted Tuesday, March 18, 2008, at 7:39 AM ET
Illustration by Robert Neubecker. Click image to expand.

I'm shopping for new wheels and was considering a Prius. But one of my co-workers insists that the Prius isn't nearly as green as Toyota boasts, due to the energy required to manufacture the car's battery. The guy also claims that scientific studies have shown that a Prius is more environmentally harmful than a Hummer is. Really?

Like those old chestnuts about poisoned ATM deposit envelopes and the dangers of flashing your headlights, the bizarre anti-Prius meme cited by your colleague refuses to die. It keeps making the e-mail rounds every few months, with multiple versions landing in the Lantern's inbox. There's a minuscule grain of truth to the allegation, since the Prius' nickel-metal hydride battery is a more complicated beast than your typical EverStart. But the rest of the case against the best-selling hybrid? Malarkey.

The Hummer-beats-the-Prius talking point began with this report (PDF) from CNW Marketing Research. The report, titled "Dust to Dust," was cited in a March 2007 editorial in the Recorder, a student newspaper at Central Connecticut State University. That editorial, in turn, was praised by Rush Limbaugh, thereby guaranteeing its eternal life in blog comments, online forums, and the musings of George Will.

The skeptics' basic argument is that the Prius' battery is irredeemably un-green, mostly because of its high nickel content and complex manufacturing process. As a result, "Dust to Dust" contends that a Prius will consume $3.25 worth of energy per mile over its cradle-to-grave lifetime. A Hummer H2, by contrast, will use $3.03 per mile and the Hummer H3 just $1.95.

Such a contrarian conclusion is manna to those who sneer at Prius owners as effete or snobbish. It's also unsubstantiated bunk. As numerous learned folks have pointed out, the 458-page "Dust to Dust" makes zero sense, and not just because it betrays its scientific shortcomings early on by referring to "gigajeulles" of energy. For starters, the report automatically penalizes the Prius by prorating all of Toyota's hybrid research-and-development costs across the relatively small number of Priuses on the road. New technologies obviously require massive upfront investment, so this puts the Prius deep in the energy hole right off the bat. (CNW Marketing defends this decision here.)

Second, "Dust to Dust" makes a gaggle of inexplicable assumptions, such as claiming that a Prius will last only 109,000 miles, well below the stated "industry straight average" of 178,739 miles—not to mention the whopping 379,000 miles ascribed to the Hummer H1. CNW says that Prius owners simply drive less than their peers, but it's impossible to tell where that data (as well as virtually everything else in the report) come from. In at least seven states, Toyota offers a 150,000-mile warranty on the Prius' hybrid components, including the battery—it's tough to fathom the company's actuaries agreeing to such a warranty if that 109,000-mile figure was correct. (More nutty assumptions are highlighted here.)

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Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for Gizmodo. His first book, Now the Hell Will Start, will be published by Penguin Press in May 2008.
Photograph of Hummer H3 on the Slate home page by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images. Illustration by Robert Neubecker.
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Note from the Fray Editor

Plenty of sensible argument and discussion in this Fray: a question on replacement batteries; a discussion on biogradability; how about those diesel cars here; and, of all things, criticism of Slate's headline-writing abilities.

Comments from the Fray

It's pretty counterintuitive that a Hummer has less environmental impact. But where the "hybrids are just for symbolism not for really doing something about the environment" idea shows some truth is in the fact that hybrid technology is mainly devoted to small cars which 1) already have the least environmental impact and 2) are the most negatively affected by having to carry the excess weight and space of the hybrid system. it seems intuitive that the biggest bang for the buck would be for hybrids in things like... well, a Hummer. Or a Suburban. the bigger the vehicle, the more room for improvement; the bigger and more thirsty the gasoline engine you're turning off at lights and while cruising; the less the impact of the weight and bulk of the system on the total mass of the vehicle.

Obviously a few manufacturers have made steps towards hybridizing their trucky vehicles; Ford Escape, for instance, although I think they've only gotten as far as shutting down the engine when stopped. technology that Subaru sold, decades ago. But Chrysler still features the Hemi for their monsters, rather than a hybrid, emphasizing the ability to crush the earth, rather than preserve it.

It's symbolism on both sides; the pro-environmental folks want not only to be environmentally conscious, but to advertise themselves as environmentally conscious. and the big vehicle buyers, want something that serves as a bumper sticker saying 'screw the environment'.

Even Honda's Accord hybrid which was the brilliantly logical answer to how do you make a midsize car faster without making it more thirsty was a failure in the market to the point where Honda pulled it. That undoubtedly gives pause to any manufacturer who wants to revamp their car line intelligently. Rather look at Toyota, who gets huge public relations boost for selling a few Priuses, while simultaneously selling thousands of big heavy thirsty trucks and suvs.

--gzuckier

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