Batteries get recycled these days. They don’t get landfilled. Toyota pays for each battery to be recycled, if it’s required.
From two biased (differently biased, even) sites: http://www.hybridcars.com/faq.html#battery and http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/should_we_be_wo_1.php
It’s ok Beefy…I got your back. I like it when guys like you and me don’t act like a dog in the back window of a car bobbing thier heads up & down with every bump in the road. Global warming is 99.9% hype
I would think twice about buying a Prius. What happens in 4-5 years (or whenever) when the big battery goes bad. It won’t last forever. How much does that battery cost? This Prius will lose value over time and that could mean you have a car that won’t run unless you put a battery in it that costs more than what the car is worth. Will you have a total loss that no insurance company will pay for?
There’s a difference between following the crowd and those who actually READ the scientific evidence. If people just followed the crowd then there would be no talk about global warming…When first proposed some 30-40 years ago the scientific community laughed at it…Now very very few scientists think global warming isn’t happening. And MOST of them you can directly match their scientific studies to the funding by companies like Exxon and Shell oil.
I think it’s been proven very well that the world is warming…If the fact that we have less then 1/2 the glaciers we did 20 years ago doesn’t convince you there’s THOUSANDS of other world wide experiments that you can read about that should convince anyone with an open mind.
HOWEVER…The problem with people like Gore is that he’s taking the FACTS and is now making predictions without looking at ALL the FACTS. The earth is a very very very complicated chaotic system. Global warming is melting the ice caps which in turn is cooling the oceans…which in turn will cool us back down…OR trigger an ice-age. We just don’t know enough to make the predictions. My daughter is actually doing research at MIT analyzing the chemical property of ice-core samples that have been taken over the past 50 years. The analysis will take YEARS to make any kind of prediction. The tests they’re running now wasn’t available even 10 years ago.
What we do know about pollution is that is causes many many health problems. I think it’s in ALL our best interest to clean up pollution. Forget about global warming…Let’s just concentrate on making the air breathable.
Those batteries last a LOT longer then your standard car battery. 10 or more years is very very likely. The battery cost was something to consider…but now that there are more hybrids out there these batteries are being mass produced and the cost keeps coming down. 5 years ago it was $3000…2 years ago $1500…Late last year $1000.
Possible, but it’s also possible that the fad will be over in another 5-10 years.
Well said, Mike! As an environmental engineer, I get very frustrated by people who don’t understand global warming and choose one side of the argument or the other without doing any research.
The planet’s temperature is increasing. That’s a fact, as Mike said. However, the planet does go through normal trends of heating and cooling…the planet was in the middle of a mini-ice age back when America was settled by Europeans, as a matter of fact. Heating and cooling is caused by a variety of things, including non-human factors like volcanic and solar activity. However, no one can argue with the fact that the vast quantities of CO2 we’re pumping into the air (not to mention the deforestation that’s led to less CO2 being converted back to O2) is causing global heating, not to mention high levels of pollution from those same human sources.
There’s too much evidence of historical climate change to blame “global warming” solely on human activities, but no one can say with any certainty that we haven’t contributed to it. We just don’t know enough. As Mike said, it makes sense to reduce pollution. It certainly won’t hurt, and it would improve people’s lives around the world.
I agree hybrid technology may just be a stop gap…and it’s really NOT for everyone. And there are MANY MANY people who by them don’t reap their full potential benefits. But there are a LOT of people who can benefit from them. I know a couple who own them and their commute and yearly miles make them an ideal candidate. Hybrid’s is just ONE technology available to us.
I agree, they do have benefits under some very specific conditions, but it does not “feel” like the type of technology that will be around very long. It’s really nothing more than a couple of old technologies cobbled together with a pretty smart control system, the type of thing that could have been done in the 70s if we had better computers and higher efficiency batteries. It seem inevitable that something more cost effective (with a good marketing campaign) will displace hybrids within a decade or so. If they do stay around longer they may become more of a specialized vehicle, as it is I see too many of them driving down the highway at 80 mph.
We’ll see. I don’t know. I sure wouldn’t jump on the band wagon just for sake of it. I also won’t give up on the technology until I see something better or as good but costs less come along.
Reducing pollutants is a no brainer…it’s just good common sense. We must be good stewarts of the earth, but, I say this with no malice intended that after reading your post it appears that you believe anything written about it and you are being gullible (spelling)
Why do you assume that people who have a different opinion that yourself have not done any research? First I apologize if my initial comment was to crass or brash, malice was not my intent. Cleaning up pollutants is good common sense & we must be good stewarts of the earth. With that said I believe in your post you have contridicted yourself 2 or 3 times.
Why do you assume that people who have a different opinion that yourself have not done any research?
I NEVER said that…Please re-read the post. YOU’RE THE ONE WHO SAID THAT “People who actually DON’T DISBELIEVE the science are just being followers.”
With that said I believe in your post you have contridicted yourself 2 or 3 times.
OK…show me please.
Reducing pollutants is a no brainer…it’s just good common sense. We must be good stewarts of the earth, but, I say this with no malice intended that after reading your post it appears that you believe anything written about it and you are being gullible (spelling)
Actually I think YOU’RE the cone whose gullible. I’ve SEEN many of the science behind global warming…If you choose to ignore the THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS studies and experiments WORLD WIDE then THAT’S gullible. Go ahead and keep believing what ever the Rad-Con’s keep telling you. Keep IGNORING science. It’s closed minded people like you that’s causing this problem in the first place.
Mike was 100% correct with everything he said, based on tons of research being conducted by scientists and engineers. I’ll find references for you if you’re still confused. Let me know what you didn’t understand or don’t believe.
I hate, hate, hate when people attack someone else’s beliefs and try to pretend they didn’t mean it personally. Meaneyedcatz, if you call someone names and insult them, that’s malicious. Incidentally (and a tad bit maliciously, I must admit), I’ve noticed that you and Beefy Norm are probably the two posters who make the most illogical and ill-informed posts on this forum, and you’re also the ones praising yourselves for not “believing the hype” you think global warming is even after decades of research.
Coincidence? I think not.
Remember Hoff…it was Norm who made the statement that putting Nitrogen in tires is EXTREMELY dangerous and could blow up…Seems like meaney has the same scientific knowledge and critical thought process.
Why are you guys bothering to argue with someone who is in no position to make or influence policy, it’s a waste of time? Let him believe what he likes, it doesn’t matter.
Reducing pollutants is a no brainer…it’s just good common sense. We must be good stewarts of the earth, but, I say this with no malice intended that after reading your post it appears that you believe anything written about it and you are being gullible (spelling)
While we in America might be trying to clean up our act, what about those overseas that have no reason to try, like India or China?
Hey MikeI & Hoff…I owe an apology. Something very bad/sad happened here & I vented my anger all wrong. After settling down and killing some time on here I realized my post was mean spirited (nothing to do with meaneyedcat…thats a johnny cash song) and that is something I do not do. Hoff mentioned I post the most lame things on here…well, actually that was the first time I ever posted anything like that so if I may defend myself I must say that is not accurate at all. Please keep in mind that I still do not believe most of the global warming info out there but I don’t have to. But I also understand that you do not have to believe that there is none. It’s ok if we disagree, but I know I started it. OK guys?
To get back to the specific question that was asked: Based on my personal experience, all of the bugs appear to have been worked out on the 2007 Prius. I have had my Prius since January 2007 and have had absolutely no trouble. I averaged 44 mpg over a full year in New England, which I believe is very good since that includes a lot of months of cold weather where the Prius is not as efficient as in warmer weather. The car is very well designed so it doesn’t feel small in the interior. Controls and readouts are laid out well. I felt comfortable in this car more quickly than with any other vehicle I have owned. The Prius handles well, has a good amount of pep, and is a joy to park. I’ve had several instances where I was able to park in stalls that others with larger (but not huge) vehicles had to pass on. Overall, I am extremely happy with my Prius.