In other matters, have you hugged a Hummer lately?

[Dave Reynolds]

http://www.reason.org/commentaries/dalmia_20060719.shtml

snip

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.

snip

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.

*******

I'm sure there is someone here who can tell me that this is bullshit, and back it up with links, yes?

Or does it all still boil down to pecker size?

[silverweb]

1. Definitely pecker size.

This "Reason" publication is just another Libertarian instrument dedicated to promoting unregulated predatory capitalism. Just take a look at the _About_ page.

[Dave Reynolds]

2. But does the source taint the data?

It seems like all makes are considered. I do not see how selling a Honda is promoting unregulated predatory capitalism to a lesser degree than selling a Saturn. :shrug:

[lectrobyte]

4. I don't know about tainted study, but anything that claims a Hummer

is cheaper than a VW Golf, Honda Civic, Ford Focus, etc. is just blowing smoke. There's a lot of disinfo out there, and I'd really like to know who sponsors CMW Research.

[silverweb]

7. Sometimes.

The source can automatically makes the data suspect, requiring verification.

Then again, I don't accept much of anything at face value these days, since our government and many corporations seem to be in the business of spreading deliberate distortions, lies, and misinformation.

[lectrobyte]

3. Yes, it's definitely bullshit. I'd seen this posted once before and

had hunted up some links refuting it. google is your friend. Obviously, if you figure a Hummer will last 300K miles and a Prius only 100K miles, then you can make the energy numbers come out in favor of the Hummer as you have to build 3 Prius's to the one Hummer. I couldn't figure out how the study said that a Hummer was cheaper energy-wise than a conventional Honda Civic until I saw some of the assumptions they made. Conveniently ignores the fact that Prius's have gone 200K as taxis with no battery replacements etc.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. 300K for a Hummer? That's some assumption....

and definitely skews the curves. Drive an H1 2,000 miles a year, like most of them are driven, and it will last forever.

In theory, perhaps a Hummer H1 was built to last 300K, unlike a Prius, but just who gets it up there in the real world? Besides, they only made 83 of them last year and killed it-- no more H1's. The other Hummers are just GM SUVs in drag, and most of them don't last very long.

[Initech]

5. There's no way that a Hummer is cheaper / environmentally friendly.

I dont buy this at all.