Comments on: 107-MPGe Prius Plug-in will debut in September

By: Anne1965

Anne1965 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:25:22 +0000

"One very rough estimate put the consumption of bunker fuel needed to import approximately 141,000 Prii last year at around 40,000 metric tons, which also equates to tremendous amounts of CO2. "

The whole truth is that 141,000 plug-in Prii prevent a lot of CO2 emissions. Much, much more than those 40000 tons.

A safe and very conservative assumption is that the plug-in Prius prevents the emissions of 10 g CO2 per km, compared to another economy car. If these 141,000 Prii cover ~200,000 km in their lives, then that prevents the emission of 282,000 tons of CO2. That's 7 times as much. The net effect is therefore very beneficial.

Be aware of the half-truths.

By: Anne1965

Anne1965 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:24:59 +0000

By: Anne1965

Anne1965 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:22:17 +0000

By: Chris C.

Chris C. — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 03:52:52 +0000

I'm looking forward to seeing confirmation of (and supporting data for) that 90 minute 120V charge time. I just don't buy it.

Also, I bet the only way you'll get that 15 mile pure-electric range is if you wheeze down the road, with no highway driving.

By: Max Reid

Max Reid — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:13:37 +0000

15 mile (25 km) range is good enough. Every day most people do travel 15 miles and that can be electric.

If they increase the range beyond that, then the price will also go up, which may reduce the sales. If they price it @ 30K, then it will surely outsell Volt & Leaf.

By: MC

MC — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:03:56 +0000

Interesting that the article dwells on the shipping emissions, which is a tiny tiny bit of a vehicle’s lifetime energy/environmental impact. Most studies put manufacturing of a vehicle around 10-15% of lifecycle impact, with the use (driving it for 10 or 20 years) as 85%-90%. Also, while I support making vehicles in the US, I need to point out that shipping is actually much less energy intensive than rail or truck, by a factor of 2-10 depending. Thus shipping a car from Japan to the West Coast likely uses much less energy than trucking one from Detroit…..