[Bakemono]

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-celebrates-10-years-of-164612.aspx

Ten years ago Toyota launched a new kind of car in North America. It was the Prius, an affordable car with a hybrid gas/electric powertrain. In the decade that followed, the Prius made an indelible mark on the automotive industry. The car with the signature wedge shape proved to be an agent of change, and a catalyst for innovative ideas. Over 1.8 million units have been sold in the world to date, with nearly 900,000 in the U.S. alone.

 

[rty]

I dedicate my next Beer to the Prius.

"IT'S MADE OF METAL
IT'S CIRCUITS GLEAM
IT'S (ALMOST) PERPETUAL
IT KEEPS THE COUNTRY CLEAN

IT'S THE..."

http://www.paulgilbert.com/Judas_Prius.html

Long live the Prius!

 

[ECHOKnight2000]

10 years of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:lol::facepalm:


But seriously, good for Toyota. They risked a new technology as well as costly and I'm sure it still is, and it paid off for the most part. The prius is just a launch for other technology Toyota can explore.

 

[Vmax2007]

http://hubpages.com/hub/Prius

The Numbers

The Prius' battery contains nickel, which is mined in Ontario Canada. The plant that smelts this nickel is apparently nicknamed "the Superstack" because of the amount of pollution it puts out; the area for miles around it is a wasteland because of acid rain and air pollution.

 

[sup_mario]

Congrats to the Prius and to Toyota as well. lol

 

[Jegan_V]

10 years of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:lol::facepalm:


But seriously, good for Toyota. They risked a new technology as well as costly and I'm sure it still is, and it paid off for the most part. The prius is just a launch for other technology Toyota can explore.

Actually its excellent for Toyota's marketing department, it does prove that green marketing works. Being able to convince people to pay quite a lot more for a car with a different powertrain is no special feat. VW on the other hand hasn't been able to convince enough people with their marketing that diesel makes far more economical sense.

 

[Sulu]

http://hubpages.com/hub/Prius

The Numbers

The Prius' battery contains nickel, which is mined in Ontario Canada. The plant that smelts this nickel is apparently nicknamed "the Superstack" because of the amount of pollution it puts out; the area for miles around it is a wasteland because of acid rain and air pollution.

Here we go again. This is typical. If you don't like something, scream loud and long -- in a shock and awe campaign -- until your opponents cover their ears and go home; they will not even yell "Enough!" before fleeing because it cannot be heard over the din of the screaming. It does not even matter what is screamed; it is usually gibberish. If you are going to criticize, please use current sources or at least use verified-as-correct sources. This story is ancient, and it is incorrect.

Yes, the Prius' battery does contain nickel but that is NOT the first time it has been used in cars and trucks. Nickel is used in chrome plating. It is also used in stainless steel, which has prevented your exhaust system from rusting out every 3 years or so and falling on, and polluting, our roads.

Yes, nickel is mined in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, which, in the early 1970s, was a true, barren waste-ground. It was so bad that urban myths arose that NASA did not land on the moon, but shot the whole thing for primetime TV in Sudbury. The city and its surrounding areas has, however, been really cleaned up in the past 30 years. It is now quite a green city and has earned awards for its regreening program.

Yes, it was the building of the Superstack, the skyscraping chimney that spread the sulfur gas emissions much further away (and spreading acid rain much further away), that allowed Sudbury to clean up its immediate environment, but the emissions now, in the current day, have been scrubbed clean, leaving largely carbon dioxide and water vapour (steam) as the largest components. Exhaust as steam is visible as white smoke, which makes the problem seem much worse than it is, but it is merely water.

 

[Vmax2007]

Spin it however you want Sulu, NiMH battery production is far from "green". Regardless of what product it goes into. Comparing the amount of nickel used in flashed chrome (which is rare on modern cars since most is ABS plastic nowadays) that is about .001" thick max to the massive amounts needed for automotive hybrid batteries is absurd.

I am not bashing the Prius specifically here, I am merely pointing out that NiMH battery powered cars may use less petroleum (a good thing) but are far from eco-friendly.

I wonder how newer Li-Ion batteries compare? Anybody know?

 

[got-rice]

This press release came out on same the day GM released the Volt, and within a few days of Nissan's Leaf announcement...what coincidences.

 

[PhatRoyale]

Happy birfday.

 

[ECHOKnight2000]

Actually its excellent for Toyota's marketing department, it does prove that green marketing works. Being able to convince people to pay quite a lot more for a car with a different powertrain is no special feat. VW on the other hand hasn't been able to convince enough people with their marketing that diesel makes far more economical sense.

Yeah I agree. I think what did it was the second gen Prius. I think most people wouldn't even knew it exist prior to that. Yes some but once the Prius looked more like a "normal" car and was bigger then it caught the attention of the public. Of course with the gas prices going up in 05 that helped a lot too.

And the media, and of course the stars are driving them so we should too:facepalm:

 

[84Cressida]

Love it or hate it, but this is the same car that many execs from other companies said would flop and that it would never catch on with gas being so cheap. Congrats, Toyota!

 

[Bakemono]

Love it or hate it, but this is the same car that many execs from other companies said would flop and that it would never catch on with gas being so cheap. Congrats, Toyota!

Amen to that!:thumbsup: