The BBC’s Top Gear motoring show did a head to head comparison of the Prius with a BMW M3 sports sedan last year. The deal was that the Toyota would blast round the show’s test track as fast as its little green wheels could carry it and the BMW gas guzzler would follow along behind.
At the end of the test, the BMW returned a shocking gas mileage of just 19.4 miles per Imperial gallon. The eco-friendly Prius returned an impressive 17.2 mpg. Err, right. So if I want to save the planet, I need a fast BMW rather than a rather sad hybrid econo-box.
Ignoring the pathetic gas mileage, the Prius also uses highly-toxic rare metals that have to be shipped halfway round the world to be refined, then halfway round again to be screwed together into a car.
The carbon footprint of this ‘green’ vehicle is astonishingly-large. Taking the energy costs and emissions of building the thing and then safely disposing of the noxious components in its batteries into account, you’d have to drive it to Venus and back before you saw any real planet-saving gains.
When the promo for BBC’s Top Gear says it just may be the best show on television, they just might be right.
These guys get paid to do stuff that, well, I’ve been paid to do but almost always do for free because it was the stuff mom didn’t want me doing – because it was silly, stupid and / or dangerous (meaning FUN!!!).
Also, at Top Gear they are obviously as annoyed as I am by the self righteous, dis-ingenuous claims by the greenies that we must all drive cars we don’t like or be denounced as destructors of the universe… So, they point and laugh – burning gas and thrashing a Prius not really to make a point so much, as to have some fun while irritating a few hippies for good measure. What’s better than that..?
Maybe next Top Gear could do a story about how much green house gas is emitted by angry motorists yelling at Prius drivers to get out of the fast lane…?
You can call me HERMEGULON THE OZONONATOR!!!! wa ha ha ha ha ha….
