Pram wheels

Toyota Prius drivers: smug champagne environmentalists, or eco-friendly innovators?

It’s a debate that’s raged since the introduction of Toyota’s ground breaking hybrid car, exacerbated by the emergence of the G-Whizz electric vehicle in recent years.

The doubters gained a foothold when it was announced the Prius is not as environmentally sensitive as most envisaged. The problem lies in the construction of Prius components, the worst culprit being the battery.

The nickel used in Prius batteries is mined and smelted at a site so ecologically stark that NASA regularly uses the area to test moon roving vehicles. Known locally as the ‘Superstack’, the plant spreads sulphur dioxide all across northern Ontario, Canada, in the form of acid rain. The battery then chalks up a series of transcontinental miles (via China, Europe, Japan and the USA) in order to be moulded into the finished article.

However, before you nod sagely and say ‘hmmm yes, I always knew that car was a con’, Toyota is staging an epic comeback.

The third generation Prius, due to be launched next year, will be part solar powered. Well, at least the air conditioning will be solar powered anyway. The solar panels will be made by Kyocera and will provide some of the two to five kilowatts used by the air conditioning system.

Is that enough to counter-balance the landscape wrecking rain cloud pumped out at the battery factory?

Of course it isn’t.