The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

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THE PRIUS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD HOW TOYOTA DEVELOPED THE WORLD'S FIRST MASS-PRODUCTION HYBRID VEHICLE ORIGINAL BY HIDESHI ITAZAKI TRANSLATED BY ALBERT YAMADA & MASAKO ISHIKAWA
Table of Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................... 5 1) Eiji Toyoda's Order - Project G21 .................................................................... 10 2) Sedan Package Revolution - Body....................................................................... 40 3) Selection of the Hybrid System - THS.............................................................. 67 4) Sudden New President - Hiroshi Okuda ....................................................... 105 5) California's CALTY - Design............................................................................ 119 6) Power Play - Engine ........................................................................................ 147 7) A Second Tech Division? Production Technology's Help - Motor ..................... 179 8) Hirose Plant's First Major Challenge - IGBT ................................................ 210 9) Cooling the THS - Radiator .......................................................................... 248 10) Merging Two Different Cultures - Battery ................................................... 262 11) The Two Product Planners - Commercialization .......................................... 285 12) Human Network - Production ..................................................................... 327 13) Superb Technical Presentation - ECO Project............................................... 342 14) The Big 3's Chill - Tokyo, Kyoto and Detroit............................................... 354 After Prius................................................................................................................. 378
Page 4 and 5: Preface September 28, 1998. That wa
Page 6 and 7: had of the company. However, they d
Page 8 and 9: Having watched Toyota for four year
Page 10 and 11: situation will last much longer. Th
Page 12 and 13: or drive train. A CE would select t
Page 14 and 15: later became the Chief Engineer for
Page 16 and 17: technology. Since the Vehicle Devel
Page 18 and 19: other hand, the Working Group consi
Page 20 and 21: Vehicle Engineering Division. Since
Page 22 and 23: manager Kubochi would be making the
Page 24 and 25: deadline was the end of 1999. After
Page 26 and 27: efficient and environment-friendly
Page 28 and 29: continuously supervise the division
Page 30 and 31: "Well, since there is no existing c
Page 32 and 33: development, opposed the idea in th
Page 34 and 35: Uchiyamada studied engineering at t
Page 36 and 37: I want to work on cars Toyota had s
Page 38 and 39: the performance of their cars and i
Page 40 and 41: An uncertain departure Ishida, who
Page 42 and 43: computers from other departments. A
Page 44 and 45: and were free of mental stress, and
Page 46 and 47: what kind of product to make." "Oka
Page 48 and 49: ergonomics. What seat height would
Page 50 and 51: Designing a car from scratch Every
Page 52 and 53:
document, detailing how the decisio
Page 54 and 55:
yet dealt with specifics, such as e
Page 56 and 57:
suspensions for Prius. The Vehicle
Page 58 and 59:
the same Torsion Beam suspension as
Page 60 and 61:
improve the general riding comfort
Page 62 and 63:
calculating the structure. Don't ev
Page 64 and 65:
a task that eventually would be can
Page 66 and 67:
Chapter 3 Selection of the Hybrid S
Page 68 and 69:
serve as a production tryout vehicl
Page 70 and 71:
The design of the show car progress
Page 72 and 73:
Motor Show so that we wouldn't be t
Page 74 and 75:
the most practical system in the sh
Page 76 and 77:
Using the system on the Camry? BR-V
Page 78 and 79:
systems. "It seems so risky no matt
Page 80 and 81:
introduced in the `70s. Auto makers
Page 82 and 83:
fourth. The four systems were studi
Page 84 and 85:
camera just as he is trying to figu
Page 86 and 87:
problems. I don't seem to be able t
Page 88 and 89:
was electronically controlled, anot
Page 90 and 91:
Manual transmissions (MT) use clutc
Page 92 and 93:
known as a "radical" within Toyota'
Page 94 and 95:
Uchiyamada was to take charge of co
Page 96 and 97:
or diesel. Even though environmenta
Page 98 and 99:
store hydrogen. Researchers are cur
Page 100 and 101:
them to join his office. Matsui and
Page 102 and 103:
in between. Unfortunately, the engi
Page 104 and 105:
Chapter 4 Sudden New President - Hi
Page 106 and 107:
Public Relations vs. the media The
Page 108 and 109:
Ministry of International Trade and
Page 110 and 111:
appointment of the new Toyota Presi
Page 112 and 113:
consolidated business, Toyota was b
Page 114 and 115:
date was the end of 1998. To him, t
Page 116 and 117:
that he felt "the Chairman, as lead
Page 118 and 119:
Chapter 5 California's CALTY - Desi
Page 120 and 121:
in the Vehicle Development Center I
Page 122 and 123:
on the interior for Prius. "Serious
Page 124 and 125:
consumers by its successes in motor
Page 126 and 127:
Uchiyamada, who was determined that
Page 128 and 129:
opinion about the future even when
Page 130 and 131:
Judges divided into two camps becau
Page 132 and 133:
panelists remain anonymous. Objecti
Page 134 and 135:
the exterior design selection proce
Page 136 and 137:
furnished with a virtual-image info
Page 138 and 139:
fan-shape opening towards both side
Page 140 and 141:
see which body design would be chos
Page 142 and 143:
wanted to get to work as soon as po
Page 144 and 145:
Division II? Are you all okay?" Sli
Page 146 and 147:
Chapter 6 Power Play - Engine When
Page 148 and 149:
to eventually replace the existing
Page 150 and 151:
Three conditions Yaegashi supervise
Page 152 and 153:
There was a reason for Yaegashi's a
Page 154 and 155:
section General Manager to supervis
Page 156 and 157:
Environmental Protection Agency (EP
Page 158 and 159:
submit official requests to the Hum
Page 160 and 161:
Test prototypes also were built qui
Page 162 and 163:
quiet at night, the whining noise f
Page 164 and 165:
"Our calculation shows it is now 40
Page 166 and 167:
attery that met the required perfor
Page 168 and 169:
The leader's announcement About tha
Page 170 and 171:
whole system, Kanei focused on the
Page 172 and 173:
and immediately requested permissio
Page 174 and 175:
degrees. On January 24 1997, Ninomi
Page 176 and 177:
power. In that case, instead of usi
Page 178 and 179:
Chapter 7 A Second Technology Divis
Page 180 and 181:
little different. The technology di
Page 182 and 183:
technology division began looking f
Page 184 and 185:
years, Kubo had submitted requests
Page 186 and 187:
most powerful on the market. There
Page 188 and 189:
inverter and a transaxle, connected
Page 190 and 191:
mistake. "You know the motor width,
Page 192 and 193:
shaft, various phenomena in the mag
Page 194 and 195:
significant, we would like to help
Page 196 and 197:
the second was 0.25 millimeters thi
Page 198 and 199:
cars of its class so it could not a
Page 200 and 201:
their vehicle tests. The team used
Page 202 and 203:
would replace internal combustion e
Page 204 and 205:
then simply turn the plan around to
Page 206 and 207:
In the end, the ten cases manually
Page 208 and 209:
indispensable to achieve short-term
Page 210 and 211:
Matsushita Electric Corporation. To
Page 212 and 213:
made at an early stage because the
Page 214 and 215:
eputable manufacturer. No one at To
Page 216 and 217:
As a result, there was no way out f
Page 218 and 219:
such as home air conditioning inver
Page 220 and 221:
use on the Prius. He could easily s
Page 222 and 223:
would come part. The heat would not
Page 224 and 225:
that produced this material was a v
Page 226 and 227:
completed by the end of April when
Page 228 and 229:
electronic parts building at Hirose
Page 230 and 231:
Suspicion As the engineers continue
Page 232 and 233:
Naturally, the engineers at Electro
Page 234 and 235:
under fire? What was the point of y
Page 236 and 237:
in a chip by slightly changing the
Page 238 and 239:
Many departments were complaining t
Page 240 and 241:
Let's do whatever we can The chip f
Page 242 and 243:
purpose. However, the layer with br
Page 244 and 245:
conduct heat when there were air bu
Page 246 and 247:
Prius' inverter is totally amazing.
Page 248 and 249:
Center IV Vehicle Engineering Divis
Page 250 and 251:
compact the Electric Vehicle Divisi
Page 252 and 253:
the perfect layout by which to show
Page 254 and 255:
The group tried dealing with this i
Page 256 and 257:
experienced considerable difficulty
Page 258 and 259:
generator and motor, stood up and s
Page 260 and 261:
three-row system. There will be ano
Page 262 and 263:
drastically smaller battery to be t
Page 264 and 265:
Manager of BR-VF at the time, he ne
Page 266 and 267:
A difficult heat problem The improv
Page 268 and 269:
Ogiso, it was far from what had bee
Page 270 and 271:
time, nobody would actually say so.
Page 272 and 273:
handed the BR-VF leader position to
Page 274 and 275:
Establishing a joint venture compan
Page 276 and 277:
defective on the store shelf even t
Page 278 and 279:
Battery. Since Tsujido Plant was ma
Page 280 and 281:
difference between an auto maker an
Page 282 and 283:
Selling to the world Another differ
Page 284 and 285:
Chapter 11 The Two Product Planners
Page 286 and 287:
the group. "We three members have f
Page 288 and 289:
to feel that he wanted to work on a
Page 290 and 291:
Let's share information Oi explaine
Page 292 and 293:
decided to trust all workers who we
Page 294 and 295:
and others issues. These resident e
Page 296 and 297:
source of income. Antiquated sales
Page 298 and 299:
Toyota Channel did not carry compac
Page 300 and 301:
satisfaction. It was Motoyasu Muram
Page 302 and 303:
Kamiya's honest opinion was that th
Page 304 and 305:
cars that would run without problem
Page 306 and 307:
and the driving distance on the tes
Page 308 and 309:
member of the group that might have
Page 310 and 311:
and the speed at which the pedal li
Page 312 and 313:
ecause there were many people but a
Page 314 and 315:
car with better performance receive
Page 316 and 317:
crankshaft, resonance vibration occ
Page 318 and 319:
hydraulic brake starts to work as s
Page 320 and 321:
However, the initial braking power
Page 322 and 323:
conventional cars would become inte
Page 324 and 325:
needed to be looked at closely. Col
Page 326 and 327:
Chapter 12 Human Network - Producti
Page 328 and 329:
If the plant were to be taken down
Page 330 and 331:
General Manager of Honsha Plant, to
Page 332 and 333:
for Motomachi Plant in Toyota City
Page 334 and 335:
companies, but soon decided that th
Page 336 and 337:
whole schedule. When a prototype pa
Page 338 and 339:
The decision to double production P
Page 340 and 341:
(Miyoshi-cho, Aichi Prefecture) was
Page 342 and 343:
and was manufacturing units at the
Page 344 and 345:
vehicles, renovation of manufacturi
Page 346 and 347:
engineer, he would not have made th
Page 348 and 349:
figure, because it would be final.
Page 350 and 351:
"Well, it will depend on how many v
Page 352 and 353:
Four hundred guests consisting of u
Page 354 and 355:
Line workers were urged to work fas
Page 356 and 357:
Director Fujio Cho, Managing Direct
Page 358 and 359:
about 30 meters. There was no exhau
Page 360 and 361:
publications that seldom feature au
Page 362 and 363:
It was an unacceptable situation fr
Page 364 and 365:
put all their efforts into improvin
Page 366 and 367:
so that Toyota could maintain its q
Page 368 and 369:
were booming, and the United States
Page 370 and 371:
was. In addition, he explained, "Th
Page 372 and 373:
introduction of Prius in particular
Page 374 and 375:
problems, reports on problems and a
Page 376 and 377:
young, curious engineer. The two en
Page 378 and 379:
had a definite plan of launching it
Page 380 and 381:
major newspapers. Even before being
Page 382 and 383:
producing no noise or emissions fro
Page 384 and 385:
facility with General Motors (GM) i
Page 386 and 387:
from a special product to a popular
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