Is Toyota Prius for older people

RichardD1970

Just some food for thought about the metals used in the manufacture of the batteries for these "green" cars.

Pollution

Nickel ore is smelted on site at Norilsk. The smelting is directly responsible for severe pollution, generally acid rain and smog. By some estimates, 1 percent of global emissions of sulphur dioxide comes from here. Heavy metal pollution near Norilsk is so severe that mining the surface soil is now economically feasible as a result of acquiring high concentrations of platinum and palladium through pollution.

The Blacksmith Institute included Norilsk in its 2007 list of the ten most polluted places on Earth. The list cites air pollution by particulates (including radioisotopes strontium-90, and caesium-137 and metals nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, and selenium) and by gases (such as nitrogen and carbon oxides, sulphur dioxide, phenols, and hydrogen sulphide). The Institute estimates four million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium, and zinc are released into the air every year.

According to an April 2007 BBC News report, Norilsk Nickel accepted responsibility for what had happened to the forests, and insisted they were taking action to cut the pollution. For the period up to 2015–2020 the company expects to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by approximately two-thirds, but admits it is hard to guarantee this pace of reduction because they are still developing the technology. CNN has claimed that there is not a single living tree within 48 km (30 mi) of the nickel smelter Nadezhda ("The Hope").

I have heard that the life expectancy is about 35-40, but don't know if that's true.

Have fun "saving" the planet and saving a few quid on fuel

keith1950

From the way most Prius drivers drive you would think they were all in their 80's.

flyingscotno1

RichardD1970 wrote: »

Just some food for thought about the metals used in the manufacture of the batteries for these "green" cars.

I have heard that the life expectancy is about 35-40, but don't know if that's true.

Have fun "saving" the planet and saving a few quid on fuel

Hope you didn't use stainless steel knives or forks for dinner- stainless steel is the main user of Nickel.

Mankysteve wrote: »

Yolina wrote: »

Add no starter motor, no alternator, no cambelt.

Hybrids do have a starter motor, an alternator and a cambelt/chain. Instead of dmf and dpf you now have at least one motor to drive the wheels, the battery, the nice complicated control electronics and drive parts.

Can't speak for them all but Toyota's don't have an alternator or a starter motor in the traditional sense.

Another saving is regenerative braking which will also mean a saving in discs and pads as the car uses them less.

Yep the electonics are complex, but you telling me that isn't common on many cars these days? Heck my diesel spent 3 days in a dealership due to an electronics problem and the dealer had a folder on it.

Yolina

Mankysteve wrote: »

Hybrids do have a starter motor, an alternator and a cambelt/chain. Instead of dmf and dpf you now have at least one motor to drive the wheels, the battery, the nice complicated control electronics and drive parts.

Toyota hybrids have, amongst a few other things, MG1, MG2 and the Power Split Device. MG1 is what starts up the ICE. Yes it's different but I'm not sure it's really more hassle than any of the recent crop of cars in terms of how much of a PITA it could all be if something goes wrong

From the blurb on various websites about the Yaris hybrid "no starter motor or alternator, while the timing chain is maintenance-free and there are no drive belts"

And if you have 30 minutes to spare, this is quite interesting (it's about how the bits 'n pieces interact, using the actual bits'n pieces from a Prius rather than diagrams)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLNDGUISTYM

The Yaris hybrid is the right car for my use, and I'm happy with it which is probably what matters really. Thankfully no-one is forced to buy a certain type of car

RichardD1970

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Hope you didn't use stainless steel knives or forks for dinner- stainless steel is the main user of Nickel.

Yes of course I do, but I don't try and justify it by pretending I'm saving the world.

The point was that people think that by having this type of car they are "doing their bit" for the environment, when in fact that is just a marketing ploy (lie?) by the manufacturers.

Yolina

RichardD1970 wrote: »

Yes of course I do, but I don't try and justify it by pretending I'm saving the world.

The point was that people think that by having this type of car they are "doing their bit" for the environment, when in fact that is just a marketing ploy (lie?) by the manufacturers.

Well I never pretended I'm saving the world (my boiler at home is well over 20 years old )

gilbert_and_sullivan

RichardD1970 wrote: »

Yes of course I do, but I don't try and justify it by pretending I'm saving the world.

The point was that people think that by having this type of car they are "doing their bit" for the environment, when in fact that is just a marketing ploy (lie?) by the manufacturers.

People i know who have these don't think anything of the sort, thats a Clarsonesque assertion.

They buy them because they want a proper and totally reliable quiet refined car with a smooth auto box that will give in excess of 50mpg on the typical short stop start local running that so many of us do, with free or minimal VED as a nice little bonus.

If they wanted to drive a tractor around they would buy a Diesel and wear ear defenders.

Eco credentials they, like me, don't have the slightest interest in.

TradePro

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Yep the electonics are complex

It's not a problem though, because the Japanese are totally competent with electronics, it's the German's that struggle.

victor2

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

People i know who have these don't think anything of the sort, thats a Clarsonesque assertion.

They buy them because they want a proper and totally reliable quiet refined car with a smooth auto box that will give in excess of 50mpg on the typical short stop start local running that so many of us do, with free or minimal VED as a nice little bonus.

If they wanted to drive a tractor around they would buy a Diesel and wear ear defenders.

Eco credentials they, like me, don't have the slightest interest in.

Couldn't agree more.
Our priority was a cheap to run car which met our requirements. It does that admirably.
If people ask what car we've got, I just say "the one that Clarkson hates". They know I enjoy Top Gear and also know what car I'm talking about!

knightstyle

We have a Toyota Auris auto diesel that does over 50mpg on mostly short journeys. On a recent long trip, 230 miles mostly motorway we got 55.8mpg including M25 Friday crawl.
You would get one for a lot less than the Prius. Plus don't believe the official mpg. See http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius