Toyota Prius, transport, and the future.

[BillyC]

Dear Organs,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8505402.stm

I confess, that I reviewed the article above with more than a hint of smugness. With a global recall of the fashionably green Toyota Prius, it's clear that it's not so economical now.

I'm not a fan of this car, which is sported by Hollywood celebrities and Chelsea's alotment owners. On the one hand, its supposed green credentials suggest it is preferable to the 4x4 that is all too common on the school run these days. However, on the other, it's production costs, and materials paint a very different picture.

Despite being able to run on batteries, my understanding is that this is only achieved when creeping along in city rush-hour traffic; and that for the majority of the time the Prius labours along on its 1.5 litre petrol engine, hauling its now unnecessary, but significant, load of batteries.

My experience of encountering Pruises on the road, whether on my motorbike, or more often on my bicycle; is that many of the drivers have a holier-than-you attitude; probably fueled by the delusion that nothing but daisies are flowing from their exhaust, ignorant of the trail of environmental devastation left in the wake of the car's manufacture. They think they're doing more than "their bit" for the environment by investing a quite staggering £19,500 or more in this apparently impractical vehicle.

My general feeling and experiences above is at odds with another opinion of mine. I suppose I should applaud Toyota for taking a bold, albeit ineffective step with the Prius: a hybrid car with batters for the mass market. Other manufacturers have shied away from this. I do truly believe that cars today are excessive. While our engines have got cleaner and more economical, the cars have got bigger and heavier - effectively cancelling out many of the advances of the engine improvements.

Eventually we're going to have to drastically economise, and I don't think we can afford to shy away from this subject. Cars will once again need to be light and economical, fueled efficiently and so on. Electric cars may be fine for short simple runs around town, able to pull around heavy batteries and coping with light loads such as shopping. However, any more significant journey is surely going to rely on a more efficient powersource when comparing weight against energy output - this is simply where petrol and diesel will win.

It's widely acknowledged that oil is becoming scarce, though the reality of this is that we've simply used up all the easy-to-reach reserves, and now things are getting a bit trickier. Bio fuels are an option, but what is often overlooked is that we also need to feed ourselves as well as our vehicles, and so I don't think there's a lot of mileage in this area - excuse the pun.

So battery driven cars? Fuel cells? Solar? That's all very well, but little attention seems to be given to adjusting our way of life to drastically reduce the number of unnecessary journies. Whether it's someone driving to the shops for a pint of milk, when they could have walked; to great big lorries traversing the country with empty loads. The past 30 years have concentrated on centralised production and distribution, rather than decentralised, local based production which formed the basis of economies for hundreds of years.

Historically though, I suppose, a desire for exotic imported goods has long been established, and that requires transport. I might get a bit upset if I couldn't buy tea anymore!

I do wonder, if the industrial era born of the 19th century, that was honed in the 20th century, is about to die in the 21st century. Just a blip on human history, a brief holiday to spoil our race. Soon perhaps, we'll have to return to more traditional lifestyles, drawing local communities back in upon themselves; and returning to more traditional forms of transport. Soon perhaps, the jets and jumbos will join Concorde in museums?



Just a range of views for discussion... anyone care to join in? Does anyone own a Prius? Have you driven in one? Do you think we're all doomed, or is the next vehicular breakthrough just around the corner?

Sheesh, that's a big rant in response to the need for a simple software upgrade...almost as big an over reaction as the media's

I have a Prius, but purely for financial reasons which is a point that a lot of people will picked up on. I bet a lot of the sales they make are due to the 15% tax banding, I'd rather we didn't pay out a huge wodge of our own cash in tax for driving a posey car, to be honest. Money better spent on bikes!

It drives fine, has a reversing camera, sat nav, blah blah blah but it's just a car, so don't care really. I'd disagree with the holier than thou attitude-I'm a good driver, and the Prius is fab because of the rear camera, it really help give an all round view when reversing, and it's fun to press the button that makes it park itself.

I drive a beat up Ka, which is more fun but the Prius saves us money, which is great.

[fizzwheel]

I dont own one. But my brother used to work at the local Toyota garage and had the pleasure of driving / servicing one.

His words

"utter sh8te" Like you say, heavy, when not on the batteries, the petrol engine has to be worked hard to keep up with traffic and thus the MPG is rubbish...

He reckoned and I agree, its more economical to buy a small diesel engined car that returns something like 60 odd mpg.

I might be wrong on this, but I dont think the batteries or the production of them that the Prius uses are paticularly "green" either.

they are in my cynical approach to global warming a mere **** in the ocean, they suck too.

[yorkie_chris]

Yeah it's a recall about brakes, bit of a red-face for Toyota and some code monkey in the ABS division will probably have to comit hari-kiri, BUT this car isn't a bold step forward. Anyone intelligent enough to design something like this can see it's pointless and see it's a cynical publicity exercise to get loads of complete rseholes, like actors to spend money on the overpriced POS. When actually they'd be better for the environment driving round in a series 2 land rover lol.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by shonadoll

I have a Prius...

[BillyC]

Originally Posted by shonadoll

I'd disagree with the holier than thou attitude

Maybe it's a London thing... Perhaps a "I don't have to pay to drive in the Congestion zone, get out of my way" mentality.



Yes, partly a rant, partly a platform for discussion... please put down your thoughts.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by shonadoll

... financial reasons ... the 15% tax banding,

the Prius saves us money, which is great.

What was the cost of the car?

I would put money on the fact that you will lose more in capital costs and depreciation (and fuel!) than you will ever save in tax.

Oh and when your prius is out of warranty, god help you!

[BillyC]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Yeah it's a recall about brakes, bit of a red-face for Toyota and some code monkey in the ABS division will probably have to comit hari-kiri, BUT this car isn't a bold step forward. Anyone intelligent enough to design something like this can see it's pointless and see it's a cynical publicity exercise to get loads of complete rseholes, like actors to spend money on the overpriced POS. When actually they'd be better for the environment driving round in a series 2 land rover lol.

Ladies and Gentleman, I show you the true rant

Really, I know what you're saying, but I'm not quite as cynical. The Prius was a bold step, no one else was doing anything like this, and only Lexus have some something vaguely similar (and even more useless).

I feel that too many people are praising the Prius, rather than constructively pointing out the defects, and scurrying off to find solutions to them.