The Toyota Prius. World's biggest con?

[Wanderer]

The Prius was put up against a Diesel BMW.

Guess who won hands down?

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/used_car_reviews/article3552994.ece

Prius = Snake Oil ?

Ed

[davidlandy]

Brilliant article Ed,

and it was a 5 series, they could had used a smaller car and bettered the result further still.

[CaptainColourful]

 
Can't get the link to work, just keep getting the Carparts ad vid....

[graham]

Link worked ok for me, interesting reading.

[waveydavey]

TBH I am not surprised - it has to lug a load of batteries around all day.

They never even mentioned the Environmental impact of manufacture and disposal which is huge for one of the two cars on test.

[Silvery Thing]

Another Prius bashing thread :doh:

What a yawn :roll:

[Thrasher]

It's not bashing, it's a real word test.

It would be bashing if it was made up, but it isn't.

[ChrisV8]

 :clap: :clap: :clap:Bet they wouldn't dare put it up against SWMBO's little car, Fiat Panda Multijet diesel !!!! We can get an easy 75mpg out of that not really bothering too much, but I wouldn't want to drive it 500 miles !

Hybrids are just a big con as others have said, the environmental impact of the batteries alone outweigh anything !

[waveydavey]

Another Prius bashing thread :doh:

What a yawn :roll:

Where is anybody bashing it?
If they wanted to bash it then they would test it against a Panda or something to guarantee results, at the very least test against a car the same size.

The fact is the Prius is a genius of marketing and nothing more than that; the technology doesn't justify the hype.

The fact is that a modern petrol or diesel engine is a lot more advanced, especially diesel with Common Rail etc.

Electric motors and controls are so well developed there is not far to go; the fact is they are just not a good drive system for cars.

[EvilEd]

interesting reading about the prius (And the Wrangler) here
http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/

[Bishops Finger]

From watching one last week brain removal of the owner is compulsory............t junctions you should stop at...not pull out and let the other drivers do an emergency stop....

[Disco Matt]

From watching one last week brain removal of the owner is compulsory............t junctions you should stop at...not pull out and let the other drivers do an emergency stop....

Ah, but you're in an evil 4x4 see. On planet Pious that makes you a second class citizen unworthy of concepts such as right of way...  :lol: :lol:

I have heard that the factory-fitted low rolling resistance tyres make them scarily prone to understeering too.

[carbore]

I think its a shame that the Prius does not deliver, the sentiment is correct, but the execution is poor. There is nothing wring whit wanting to reduce pollution its just that the "green movement" has now been totally hijacked as a way of selling more stuff. Companies see it as a way to sell a whole new pile of "green goods" and us consumers say " I CARE, I WANT TO HELP.... WHAT CAN I BUY " the sad thing is that buying stuff, any stuff is the problem.  If we just spent more money on quality goods and not throw away plastic crap then the world would be a better place (and the Chineese economy would slow down a bit) or buy second hadn, I got a lovely wooden handled hay fork form the car boot for £5 its got to be at least 30 years old and is better and cheaper than anything in B@Q.

[Silvery Thing]

.... is anybody bashing it?....

Eh yes :doh:

Read the thread title and the first couple of posts.... even your first post is a little less than neutral on this subject :-.

Hybrid drive is new technology and will improve with time and more research. I wonder if people will now start to slate the new range of Lexus hybrids :-k

[waveydavey]

Hybrid drive is new technology and will improve with time and more research. I wonder if people will now start to slate the new range of Lexus hybrids :-k

Not true; Toyota would like you to think that but its been around years; it just hasn't been used on cars as it is not really suitable.

Tell me one single item on the Prius that is new?

I work as an Environmental Officer, I believe in looking after the Environment but sorry the Prius is not the way to do it.
The fact is it's another genius of marketing.

The politicians need to start looking past CO2 and looking at the overall picture.

I would not argue the Prius has low CO2 but that is a very narrow part of a very large picture; look at the rest of the picture and it is an Environmental crime - the facts back that up as well. Batteries are very bad for the environment and the more they develop the worse they get.

[Silvery Thing]

....Tell me one single item on the Prius that is new?....

New is a realative word.... I use the word 'new' as a term in that it is not old. Hybrid drive is a new concept for everyday family cars and will, I am quite sure, continue to be developed.

As for the batteries, I agree with you in general terms but I feel very sure that such large batteries would be correctly recycled if in the right hands.

[Thrasher]

I think Honda have got the right end of the stick this time (with their newer HFC car). Hydrogen fuel cells. Old Technology it may be, but it's something can be applied to older vehicles (fuel conversions)....

This brings the footprint of the vehicles down AND keeps older cars on the roads longer - which benefits everyone except the "must change my car every 3 years" brigade (you at the back - stop sniggering!)

[Wireless]

:clap: :clap: :clap:Bet they wouldn't dare put it up against SWMBO's little car, Fiat Panda Multijet diesel !!!! We can get an easy 75mpg out of that not really bothering too much, but I wouldn't want to drive it 500 miles !

Hybrids are just a big con as others have said, the environmental impact of the batteries alone outweigh anything !

SWMBO's 1985 Fiat Panda 45CL does 68mpg, has 22k on the clock, has virtually no rust, and cost £400.  Only downside is the rip off £120 VED, but not a lot we can do about that.

[Range Rover Blues]

Err, Hydrogen, where's that come from again :-k

I agree that the sentiment is good, but the practice is not.  The only thing that the piuou sdoes is use regenerative braking.  The idea has been around for over 2 decades that I'm aware of on the railways, ther is works because the substation is stationary (no punn intended) but in a car, wany gain from soaking up the braking effort is lost int whatever vessel you choose to out that energy into.

Want to save the planet? then vote for a party that will make it easier to work from home.


As an aside, about 100 years ago, electric vehicle technology was way ahead of internal combustion, it was cheap, reliable, clean and quiet.

then some sod started a war and electric vehicles were no use in another country.  The old joke, they may be cheap to run but he cable costs £40,000 :roll:

So petrol engines took over in military servie, then the large number of army surplus truck after the war plus the rapid development id IC engines saw the end of electric and steam as realistic motive power.

[V8MoneyPit]

plus the rapid development id IC engines saw the end of electric and steam as realistic motive power.

Ah, steam power.... there's plenty of water in the swollen rivers to keep them going. And global warming will just keep topping it up as the ice caps melt  :lol:

Hybrid drives could be made to work, but it would push the cost of the cars too high. The Prius was the first realistic attempt at getting it into a family saloon, but it is a compromise to keep the cost down. As it is, it does come across as a pure marketing excersise.

We've discussed, at length in the past, the other environmental issues with it. But it's the same with anything, give the world a bandwagon and companies and governements will all jump on it regardless of whether it is a sensible bandwagon or not.