If I told you that a GM Hummer, Ford F-Series Pickup or even a cadillac CTS is a ‘greener’ car than the Toyota Prius you’d think I was nuts! But an article by Neil Reynolds in this morning’s Globe and Mail highlights a recent study that says just that.
Oregon-based CNW Marketing Research Inc. has conducted the world’s most comprehensive analysis of the “life cycle” energy requirements of more than 100 makes and models of cars and trucks. Given the thousands of parts and processes in the manufacturing and operation of cars, it was a complex task and took the company two years to complete. Volvo once tried to do it - and gave up in frustration (though it does publish “life cycle” analysis for its own makes).
CNW identified 4,000 “data points” for each car, ranging from the energy consumed in research and development to energy consumed in junkyard disposal. It calculated the electrical energy needed to produce each pound of parts. It calculated greenhouse gas emissions. It calculated mileage, too - adjusting for the differences between rush-hour Tokyo and rural America.
But to a lay-person what does that really mean?
To keep it relatively free of technical jargon, the company expresses energy requirement as the dollar cost of energy for every mile across a vehicle’s anticipated years of use - “U.S. dollars per lifetime mile.” Thus it reports the lifetime energy requirement of a Hummer as $1.90 a mile; the lifetime energy requirement of a Prius as $2.86 a mile.
It reports by model name and by category. For 22 models of economy cars, the average lifetime energy cost is $0.85. For six models of pickup trucks, it’s $2.58. For 14 models of smaller-sized sports utility vehicles, it’s $2.07; for nine models of larger-sized SUVs, it’s $3.98. For 10 models of gas-electric hybrids, it’s $3.65.
Could it really be that SUVs are really greener than hybrids? This study says so.
Compare the SUVs against the hybrids and you get a sweep in favour of conventional technology. The best-rated smaller SUVs are more than twice as eco-friendly as the hybrids: Dodge’s Durango, $1.57; Ford’s Explorer, $1.61; Chevrolet’s TrailBlazer, $1.61; Jeep’s Grand Cherokee, $1.80.
Interesting stuff - and in some ways its hard to beleieve. But it does make a lot of sense to take EVERYTHING into account when evaluating the ‘green factor’ of a vehicle and it looks like this research firm has done just that.
For the full blow-by-blow of this study you can check out all the info at
CNW’s website.
Gardarem lou V12 !
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