My R/W electrician "dissed" my Prius today (something he heard on Ru$h).

[DemoTex]

First, I do like my electrician. He is good. And I can tell him how full-o-shit he is when he starts spouting off his goofy R/W gibberish (he listens to Ru$h Limbaugh by day and Sean Hannity by night). But this was the clincher.

Seems that Ru$h did a hatchet job on the Toyota Prius recently, focusing on his perceived environmental problems with the Prius NiMH batteries. Specifically, Ru$h cited the "moonscape" at a Sudbury, Canada, nickel mine. Never mind that the "moonscape" description was from the 1970s, and nevermind that the mine had been in operation since 1897. Ru$h also failed to mention that the biggest use for mined nickel is stainless steel .. ubiquitous stainless steel. I bet fat Ru$hbo has a kitchen full of stainless: Sub-Zero, Viking, Meile, etc.

Ru$h evidently went one more step. He compared the Prius to the Hummer, and concluded that the Hummer was lower cost with a lower environmental impact. Sounds like he is back on his oxy, or something stronger.

Nickel in Priuses

A recent letter to the editor was sent regarding your article that Eagle County would be buying Prius cars.

In the letter Mr. Sicking implies that nickel used in the Prius battery is responsible for a moonscape ecological damage near Sudbury, Canada. NASA used the area in the 1970s. Which is a long time ago. The Prius was sold in the U.S. initially in 1997.

Nickel is refined from a sulphur bearing ore in Sudbury. Prior to emissions controls, the sulphur was converted to acid bearing emissions, which poisoned the local soil. This started in 1897. But in recent years the company has received ecological medals for the clean up work they have participated in.

Some of this is detailed in www.sudburysoilsstudy.com/EN/overview/background.asp and on www.cbc.ca/clips/rm-hi/mackinnon-sudbury070312.rm.

So what is responsible for the damage that was done, which was prior to the Prius production? Well, the next time you sit down from dinner and pick up a stainless steel flatware knife and fork, look yourself right in the eye.

Yes, the major use of nickel is stainless steel, used in everything from outdoor hardware, eating utensils and other kitchen tools, surgical instruments.

Nickel is also used in the alloys used for aircraft turbine blades. Anything manufactured with these materials prior to the implementation of sulphur emissions controls in Sudbury is responsible by Mr. Sicking’s reasoning. Because the Toyota nickel was refined after these controls were in place, one might even conjecture the Prius and other Toyota stainless steel parts are helping to pay for the cleanup of Sudbury that your parents and grandparents’ flatware caused.

There is confusion regarding nickel cadmium (NiCd) and nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. NiCd batteries, commonly used in rechargeable devices, including two-way radios used by emergency services and older portable power tools, are extremely poisonous due to the cadmium.

Nickel itself is a white silvery metal which is non-toxic. Like I mentioned above surgeons use it in their instruments.

Nickel is a common plating on steel and brass. NiMH batteries are relatively benign, comparatively, and Toyota has put a bounty of $200 on each used pack to ensure they are returned to them for recycling. They have built a factory for this very purpose.
I would be more concerned about the battery packs used by construction contractors, than those worthwhile quantities of nickel in the Prius battery pack.

The somewhat smaller, Korean-made, Chevy Aveo that matches the Prius option level (four-door sedan, automatic transmission, engine immobilizer security system, 15-inch aluminum wheels) costs $15,425. With the extra brake repair cost of the non-hybrid Aveo, extra fuel to run it, starter and alternator costs (the Prius-warranted transmission does these functions), the Aveo costs the same amount as the Prius over 150,000 miles.

The equal cost estimate assumes the Aveo automatic transmission lasts for 150,000 miles, which might be a faulty assumption in mountainous Eagle County.

The Prius’ mechanically simple transmission (no clutches/bands, only one planetary gear set) has proved very reliable, and is commonly used in taxi service beyond 200,000 miles service without repair.

Donald V. Lemke

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070403/LETTER/70403014&SearchID=73283621979071

[Downtown Hound]

1. "The Hummer was lower cost with lower environmental impact."

I thought he was supposed to have quit with the drugs.

:rofl:

I can't believe there are people out there that actually take that dipshit seriously.

[DemoTex]

2. I call it "Whistling through the graveyard at midnight."

They know that it is over. They know that they are exposed as total frauds. But they keep whistling, albeit mostly out of their asses. Know what I mean?

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Don't forget another very common use of nickel

Coins. Billions and billions of pure nickel and nickel-alloy coins are made around the world each year, with practically every major country using nickel in some form in its coinage.

[wtmusic]

4. A lot of that nonsense comes from a clown named Art Spinella

who is spinning for GM by putting out truly atrocious studies (did you know gigajoule is actually spelled gigajuelle? :silly:) that purport to show that owning a Hummer is more ecologically sound than a Prius.

I'm sure Rush is buying right in.

[DemoTex]

6. Reno-911 (season 3) did a spoof on Hummers.

The Reno sheriff's department got a black & white Hummer patrol vehicle. The deputies were ecstatic. Until reality set in. Every other scene was either problems parking the behemoth, or another trip to the gas pump.

The last scene had the deputies pushing the fuel-starved Hummer through the gates of the county facility for more gas. They relax a bit too much, and the Hummer rolls back over Deputy Travis Junior (no blood, no foul with all that road clearence). Junior, from under the Hummer, ends the show by saying, "LOOK at that goddamn exhaust system!"


Back at the gas pump. Where's Dangle?

On Edit (BTW): Reno 911 is filmed in Los Angeles. This shot is from the LA sheriff's lot. I've got the first three seasons of Reno 911 on DVD, with season four coming in July. I watch every inch of those DVDs (out-takes, interviews, etc). At 59+ I am an unlikely suspect for DU Reno 911 expert!

[MisterHowdy]

5. I live in Sudbury, ON

Was Rush implying that nickel is a hazardous material?
Yes it looks like the moon here in some spots because of the lousy, stubby smelters they used to use here. All the smoke killed the vegetation. But now we have a much taller stack and vegetation is growing again.
I guess, indirectly, nickel has hurt our environment.
But only because of the nickel "smelting" process. Nickel, in itself, is completely harmless.

Rush is stupid.

[DemoTex]

7. Thank you sir!

I will pass this on to Sparky tomorrow. Does Canada have a Ru$h? Want him?

[Berry Cool]

8. In other news, Rush has discovered that Lake Erie "died"

and is blaming its death on the Prius. :rofl:

[DemoTex]

10. Tomorrow I'm trading the Prius on a Hummer, B-4 I do any more damage to Mother Earth.

Get thee to a junkyard!



Hello, mama!

[Maat]

9. Thanks for the post.

I own a Prius. I sent this (downstairs) to Hubby, the chemical and materials engineer.