If you haven’t already heard, there’s this car out there with what’s called “Hybrid Synergy Drive” called the Prius. It uses electric motors to augment a tiny gasoline power-plant. It has a couple of different body styles, sedan and wedge. The wedge is by far the most prevalent (insidious) and ugly.
Here’s my main beef with them. Not the technology, I think the technology is fantastic and more cars should be like the Prius (as soon as battery disposal is figured out, more on this later.) The problem is between the steering wheel and the seat. The people that drive Priuses are pretentious, pre-occupied, and heavily distracted by a.) their reflection in the rear-view and b.) their little display that shows their current mileage-per-gallon. I’ve been able to confirm many of my suspicions and gripes with Prius owners with an actual, live Prius owner. There was an episode of South Park that summed it up perfectly. In this episode, Stan’s dad buys a “Pious,” winds up moving to San Francisco where the citizens are more in tune with the environment and, well, enlightened. They also happen to blast flatulence into champagne flutes and inhale deeply.
What goes through the mind of a Prius driver when s/he arrives at the Toyota lot to pick one up? “I’m helping the environment,” “I’m part of the solution,” and “I’m going to save a lot of gas money.” Innocent enough, yes, I’m all for saving fuel. But when gas-sipping begins interfering with the drivers’ ability to go with the flow of traffic and be a considerate driver, I have a problem with it. My interview with a Prius owner was short, but revealing. This individual smokes weed, cruises around staring at his MPG display. “OH MY GOD I’M GETTING 99MPG.” was his quote. (But I’m coasting along doing 20 in a 35.) He told me that he stops at ALL yellow lights, whether it makes sense to or not to improve his fuel savings.
As a not-so-casual observer, I frequently see Priuses doing below the speed limit, making poor lane change decisions, perhaps most damning of all, not taking advantage of the program we have here in California that grants them commuter-lane access. Get the hell out of my lanes man!!
But are Priuses really helping the environment? What of battery disposal? Toyota may put a $200 bounty on each battery to ensure proper disposal, but is it really worth the risk? Do j-yards really give these cars a second glance before tossing them into the crusher? I’m going to paraphrase-quote Jeremy Clarkson here. He said that in the span of ten years, the Prius has a larger/more harmful carbon-footprint than a full size Range Rover SUV. To top it off, we all know NiMH batteries degrade, we all have laptops with sub-par battery lives. It costs THREE GRAND for a new battery array. Add to that the cost of rebuilding the 1.5 liter gasoline engine, and what of the electric motor? I don’t dare speculate on that. Toyota’s answer is, the batteries last the lifetime of the car, and users will experience minimal (if any) degradation.
What is the lifetime of a fashion-accessory-sham-fad of a car? What is the average lifespan of one of Paris Hiltons’ lap-dogs? Are these cars appliances meant to be discarded completely after five years? Ten years? This remains to be seen.
Then there’s this. At low speeds, creeping through parking lots and suburban areas, running on the electric motor, the Prius is near-silent. According to this study by the NHTSA, Priuses are .3% MORE LIKELY to take out a pedestrian or biker than a standard vehicle. I don’t care if the chances are 0.000001% greater, Priuses are evil-incarnate. And my loud obnoxious car could save lives.
