One of the debates that have been sparked by the Toyota Prius->ke231 is the way it’s manufactured. Hybrid haters have long pushed on us the fact that during its total life cycle, the Prius is actually fairly damaging to the environment, according to a report in Automotive News.

Although the Prius may lead the pack in terms of fuel efficiency, the Prius actually ranked below average in all five categories related to the materials manufacturing aspect of the cycle. Most notably, the electric motors, inverters, and nickel-metal hydride batteries are the most at fault. According to Automotive News, these three components increase the emissions of non-methane hydrocarbons and particulate matter.

Toyota->ke88 is aware of this and they say that they have begun working in reevaluating eight different vehicles in the Japanese market, including the Prius. The Japanese automaker hopes to put the Prius at the top of life cycle list.

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