The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

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then simply turn the plan around to make a three-- dimensional form. Since they designed in this fashion, they forgot to indicate the hollow shape on one surface. Since the case is a solid body, every surface needs to be drawn correctly for the design to work. The designers were so used to using the easier two-dimensional CAD that they failed to realize the pitfalls of their practice. Emergency manual procedure For building the prototype THS unit, Drive Train Engineering Division handled the design, Foundry Engineering Division's Meichi Plant did the casting, and Power Train & Chassis Components Production Engineering Division handled machine processing. The parts were then shipped to the Prototype Department which assembled them. The design error was discovered while Power Train & Chassis Components Production Engineering Division was test assembling a unit. Accompanied by an experienced engineer, Matsui ran to see Power Train & Chassis Components Production Engineering Division's Tagami. He discussed with a Power Train & Chassis Components Production Engineering Division engineer the extent of the problem and how much thinner the case wall was to be. Matsui, who had expected to be grilled for making a highly unprofessional error, began apologizing. 205
Tagami immediately stopped him and said, "Don't worry about that. Let's think of how to correct the situation instead." "We've already cast tens of them, but we stopped the rest. Matsui-san, can you redraw the plan for the mold right away? Meanwhile, we will fix what we can." Matsui felt completely indebted to Tagami. Before casting could continue, the mold needed to be changed. Modifying a mold usually takes one to two months. The date for building the prototype was set, and there would be no time to rebuild every case, starting with the mold. At least seven cases had to be finished within the year so that they would be ready for testing after New Year's. So even without a detailed drawing, Tagami and Matsui decided to machine down some of the cases. There were about ten casings. Some of the technicians came to work on weekends immediately before the winter break and manually modified the cases. The day after the problem surfaced, Matsui brought the new plan to Design Management Department for approval and delivered it to the Power Train & Chassis Components Production Engineering Division's Honsha prototype plant. Meanwhile, the Foundry Engineering Division finished the mold change in a week instead of the usual four, and began manufacturing new cast parts. They placed the project on top priority and put their maximum efforts into it. 206
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THE PRIUS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD HOW
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Preface September 28, 1998. That wa
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had of the company. However, they d
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Having watched Toyota for four year
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situation will last much longer. Th
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or drive train. A CE would select t
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later became the Chief Engineer for
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technology. Since the Vehicle Devel
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other hand, the Working Group consi
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Vehicle Engineering Division. Since
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manager Kubochi would be making the
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deadline was the end of 1999. After
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efficient and environment-friendly
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continuously supervise the division
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"Well, since there is no existing c
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development, opposed the idea in th
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Uchiyamada studied engineering at t
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I want to work on cars Toyota had s
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the performance of their cars and i
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An uncertain departure Ishida, who
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computers from other departments. A
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and were free of mental stress, and
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what kind of product to make." "Oka
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ergonomics. What seat height would
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Designing a car from scratch Every
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document, detailing how the decisio
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yet dealt with specifics, such as e
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suspensions for Prius. The Vehicle
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the same Torsion Beam suspension as
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improve the general riding comfort
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calculating the structure. Don't ev
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a task that eventually would be can
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Chapter 3 Selection of the Hybrid S
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serve as a production tryout vehicl
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The design of the show car progress
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Motor Show so that we wouldn't be t
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the most practical system in the sh
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Using the system on the Camry? BR-V
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systems. "It seems so risky no matt
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introduced in the `70s. Auto makers
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fourth. The four systems were studi
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camera just as he is trying to figu
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problems. I don't seem to be able t
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was electronically controlled, anot
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Manual transmissions (MT) use clutc
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known as a "radical" within Toyota'
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Uchiyamada was to take charge of co
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or diesel. Even though environmenta
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store hydrogen. Researchers are cur
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them to join his office. Matsui and
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in between. Unfortunately, the engi
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Chapter 4 Sudden New President - Hi
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Public Relations vs. the media The
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Ministry of International Trade and
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appointment of the new Toyota Presi
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consolidated business, Toyota was b
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date was the end of 1998. To him, t
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that he felt "the Chairman, as lead
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Chapter 5 California's CALTY - Desi
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in the Vehicle Development Center I
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on the interior for Prius. "Serious
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consumers by its successes in motor
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Uchiyamada, who was determined that
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opinion about the future even when
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Judges divided into two camps becau
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panelists remain anonymous. Objecti
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the exterior design selection proce
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furnished with a virtual-image info
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fan-shape opening towards both side
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see which body design would be chos
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wanted to get to work as soon as po
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Division II? Are you all okay?" Sli
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Chapter 6 Power Play - Engine When
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to eventually replace the existing
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Three conditions Yaegashi supervise
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There was a reason for Yaegashi's a
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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
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Page 178 and 179: Chapter 7 A Second Technology Divis
Page 180 and 181: little different. The technology di
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Page 184 and 185: years, Kubo had submitted requests
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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 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
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The group tried dealing with this i
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experienced considerable difficulty
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generator and motor, stood up and s
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three-row system. There will be ano
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drastically smaller battery to be t
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Manager of BR-VF at the time, he ne
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A difficult heat problem The improv
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Ogiso, it was far from what had bee
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time, nobody would actually say so.
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handed the BR-VF leader position to
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Establishing a joint venture compan
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defective on the store shelf even t
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Battery. Since Tsujido Plant was ma
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difference between an auto maker an
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Selling to the world Another differ
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Chapter 11 The Two Product Planners
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the group. "We three members have f
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to feel that he wanted to work on a
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Let's share information Oi explaine
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decided to trust all workers who we
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and others issues. These resident e
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source of income. Antiquated sales
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Toyota Channel did not carry compac
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satisfaction. It was Motoyasu Muram
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Kamiya's honest opinion was that th
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cars that would run without problem
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and the driving distance on the tes
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member of the group that might have
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and the speed at which the pedal li
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ecause there were many people but a
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car with better performance receive
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crankshaft, resonance vibration occ
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hydraulic brake starts to work as s
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However, the initial braking power
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conventional cars would become inte
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needed to be looked at closely. Col
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Chapter 12 Human Network - Producti
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If the plant were to be taken down
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General Manager of Honsha Plant, to
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for Motomachi Plant in Toyota City
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companies, but soon decided that th
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whole schedule. When a prototype pa
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The decision to double production P
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(Miyoshi-cho, Aichi Prefecture) was
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and was manufacturing units at the
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vehicles, renovation of manufacturi
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engineer, he would not have made th
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figure, because it would be final.
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"Well, it will depend on how many v
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Four hundred guests consisting of u
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Line workers were urged to work fas
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Director Fujio Cho, Managing Direct
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about 30 meters. There was no exhau
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publications that seldom feature au
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It was an unacceptable situation fr
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put all their efforts into improvin
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so that Toyota could maintain its q
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were booming, and the United States
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was. In addition, he explained, "Th
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introduction of Prius in particular
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problems, reports on problems and a
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young, curious engineer. The two en
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had a definite plan of launching it
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major newspapers. Even before being
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producing no noise or emissions fro
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facility with General Motors (GM) i
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from a special product to a popular
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