zoonunit’s Recent Comments

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  The entire premise of this study is questionable

  There's a certain egotistical arrogance exhibited by this study's authors to think that they can accurately sum up the cost to manufacture the thousands of different parts, materials and technology that goes into making a single car, much less hundreds of cars, as this study proposes to do.

  When calculating the cost of a part, did the study take into consideration the energy expended by the person building the part?   Or perhaps the energy demands of the building where parts were assembled?  Bigger parts probably need bigger buildings, hence more energy.  How about all the energy and resources expended on advertising?  The Prius hasn't had to be advertised at all, but look at the total ad budget for Hummers.  Did this study add in the cost of other consumables like tires? (A Hummer's tire is at least twice the size of a Prius and wears out faster)

  There are far too many variables in a company the size of GM or Toyota for any outsider to quantify manufacturing costs into some quasi-figure.

  There's a simpler and perhaps more accurate method of calculating a car's total manufacturing energy expenditure: its cost.  You see, auto manufacturers spend millions of dollars over decades to determine the precise manufacturing costs of their vehicles.  It's the only way they can set an accurate sales price and make a decent profit.  Otherwise, they go out of business.  (Judging from GM's current situation, perhaps they've underpriced the Hummer) I trust Toyota's accounting department far more than the dubious calculations of this ambitious study.

  Cost is an excellent indicator of energy usage, since all energy and resources have an established market value that finds its own level.  If a Hummer used less total energy to produce than a Prius, then its total price would be lower, plain and simple.  But of course it's not.  Therefore, something stinks in this analysis.

  I won't even go into the banal assumption that a Hummer will last twice as long as a Prius. Has this guy ever looked at the average service life of Toyota vehicles vs. GM vehicles?On Prius consumes more energy in lifetime than Cherokee posted 2 years, 9 months ago 52 Responses