Reduce Global Warming: Buy a Used Car, not a Hybrid
compiled by David Barth, June 16, 2008
From Wired, June 2008, page 163.
In 2006, an Oregon market research firm submitted a report that said a Humvee (13 mpg city; 16 mpg highway) uses
less energy than a Prius (48 city; 45 highway). The reason is that manufacturing 30 pounds of nickel for the Prius
batteries releases more carbon to the atmosphere than the production of a Hummer. Engineer Pablo Paster calculated
that building a Prius requires 113 million BTUs. A gallon of gasoline contains 113,000 BTUs, so when comparing a
Prius to other automobiles, a Prius has already consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gas before it leaves the
factory.
In the case of a used car, the previous owners have already paid off the carbon debt. A Prius will have to drive
100,000 miles to catch up to a 10-year old Toyota Tercel which gets 35 mpg. Better yet, a three-cylinder,
49-horsepower 1994 Geo Metro XFi gets the same mileage as a 2008 Prius. A 2008 Prius would never produce less
carbon than the Geo Metro.