The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

in a chip by slightly changing the design usually takes one to
two months, and completing the IGBT module with the
chip takes another month.
However, by the end of 1996, all other departments
were continuously submitting complaints that they were
unable to properly evaluate the car because the IGBT kept
breaking down. By this time, the second-generation prototype
had been built, and the Prius team was at an important
evaluation period for perfecting the car. They simply could
not spend several months making the new chip and the new
module.
Fortunately, the semiconductor facility was run on a two-
shift system. The period from late night to dawn, which
would be the time for a third shift at other facilities, and
weekends were completely open. Kushida used an open
production line during these hours to start making the chip.
Kushida got help from several technicians with whom he
was familiar so that the chip was completed as quickly as
possible and brought by hand to the Electronics
Production Engineering Division. There Baba and his staff
quickly made the module, assembled it into an inverter,
and brought it to the vehicle facility. It usually took three
months to make the IGBT module, but Kushida and Baba
completed the module in as little as two weeks. During the
three month period from December 1996 to February 1997,
the whole Hirose Plant was working extremely hard.
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