I know the first major purchase I want to make once I have the opportunity is a Toyota Prius. Say what you will about them, but ever since riding in a friend’s several weeks ago I know my mind is made up. I like the idea of doing something practical about my oil usage—small though it may be—but I also love the idea of being able to hack my car. Joe tells me hackers are hard at work on mods for the Prius’ onboard computer system, and something about that just makes me happy.
Another reason to like the Prius is that it sidesteps all the BS about E85. GM is pushing corn ethanol as a valid replacement (and current supplement) to fossil fuels, an argument that made some sense at the outset but ultimately fails. A recent Cornell study showed that producing ethanol from corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced. Read that again. That’s a pretty staggering finding. And it’s no doubt GM wants to push E85 since its use means zero modification to the powerplants they’ve already spent billions developing and testing over the last 40 years. E85 also (as the name suggests) still employs 15% fossil fuel. A strategy like Toyota’s where we reduce our footprint gradually until we don’t rely on any biomass fuel source is sustainable.
But we also desperately need to relearn how to plan our communities in the US. More so than anywhere else on earth our cities sprawl and specialize, forcing us to use cars for even short trips. Moving from a foot-friendly town like DC back to the sprawling south was a bit of a shock for me, and it’s gradually become a daily disappointment. The lack of consistent sidewalks or bike lanes and spotty bus service make a car an object of survival and tends to make a population overweight. Being fat and car bound sucks. I’d much rather be trim and have to plan a few extra minutes of walking into my day.
But as long as there are cars you’ll find me hacking Google maps into my Prius. ~