Save the Earth: Buy a Hummer

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

A_Wanderer

ONE love, blood, life
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
12,518
Location
The Wild West
hybrids are at least better for the environment than say….. a Hummer, right? Nope.

Spinella spent two years on the most comprehensive study to date – dubbed "Dust to Dust" -- collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a car from the initial conception to scrappage. He even included in the study such minutia as plant-to-dealer fuel costs of each vehicle, employee driving distances, and electricity usage per pound of material. All this data was then boiled down to an "energy cost per mile" figure for each car (see here and here).

Comparing this data, the study concludes that overall hybrids cost more in terms of overall energy consumed than comparable non-hybrid vehicles. But even more surprising, smaller hybrids' energy costs are greater than many large, non-hybrid SUVs.

For instance, the dust-to-dust energy cost of the bunny-sized Honda Civic hybrid is $3.238 per mile. This is quite a bit more than the $1.949 per mile that the elephantine Hummer costs. The energy cots of SUVs such as the Tahoe, Escalade, and Navigator are similarly far less than the Civic hybrid.

As for Ford cars, a Ford Escape hybrid costs $3.2 per mile – about a third more than the regular Escape. But on the whole, ironically enough, the dust-to-dust costs of many of the Ford non-hybrids – Fusion, Milan, Zephyr – are not only lower than comparable Japanese hybrids – Prius, Accord -- but also non-hybrids – Seville, Civic.

Spinella's finding that a Hummer on the whole consumes less energy than a hybrid than even some smaller hybrids and non-hybrids has infuriated environmentalists. And on its face it does seem implausible that a gas-guzzling monster like a Hummer that employs several times more raw material than a little Prius' could be so much less energy-intensive. But by and large the dust-to-dust energy costs in Spinella's study correlate with the fanciness of the car – not its size or fuel economy -- with the Rolls Royces and Bentleys consuming gobs of energy and Mazda 3s, Saturns and Taurus consuming relatively minuscule amounts.
link

ust a point of reference though the lifetime of the cars is the deciding factor and the hybrid technology when it becomes more commonplace and cheaper would definitely tilt these balances.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure I understand this study.

Maybe it is a comment on how the Hummer is simply a Suburban in new dress. The Hummer uses a Suburban frame and if I am understanding the article it takes design time into account and if you already have the vehicle designed. . .Well, I wonder how Hummer drivers feel about really driving a Suburban? :hmm:

Also, Civics can last a very long time. Perhaps its cost per mile is up because of this fact.

I actually saw a Hummer decked out like a military vehicle. Bullet hole decals, water jugs strapped to the roof and all. I wanted to flatten its tires. Is that wrong? :wink:
 
nbcrusader said:
There are plenty of ugly status symbols.



yes, but this one guzzles gas and takes up space on my roads and clogs up my city streets and couldn't be less necessary to 99.9% of the actual driving done with it by consumers.

and it's ugly. it offends my aesthetic sensibilities. especially those stretch Hummers. what an eyesore.
 
Hummers make you very angry don't they?

They're so common too. I tried to drive to the grocery store the other day, but could barely even get there because there were AT LEAST ten hummers blocking my way.
 
It is not uncommon for a 3rd or 4th grader to have

his friends chaufferd to his birthday party in one of these.
h2_image008_0002.jpg
 
shart1780 said:
Hummers make you very angry don't they?

They're so common too. I tried to drive to the grocery store the other day, but could barely even get there because there were AT LEAST ten hummers blocking my way.



you're not very funny, are you?
 
Last edited:
There's one in Saipan.

But the word on the street is that it's a fake Hummer made in the Philippines.
 
I'd love it if we could rid the world of Hummers, McMansions, and shopping plaza's consisting of the same friggin stores that are found every 5 miles throughout the country.
 
because it all hurts my eyes and pollutes the natural diversity of landscape, communities, and ideas that once characterized this country while further consolidating the great wealth of this country into the hands of a few.
 
Back
Top Bottom