The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

calculating the structure. Don't ever try to build a
prototype until you are absolutely sure, based on theory."
When a team member indicated his disagreement,
Wada looked outside the window and continued.
"Take a look at this. Have you ever seen a general
contractor make a prototype of that bridge or that building?
They build it one time only. Even with airplanes, they
build only two prototypes, one for endurance tests and
another for approval. We are the only ones that are building
prototypes one after another only because a car is small
and easy to make. That's why we have no progress." Wada
was well known for that view.
Uchiyamada agreed with Wada. Uchiyamada minimized
the need to build prototypes when sufficient experience and
data were available, especially in case of making improvements
on the body. Since the development period for Prius was
short, there would not be enough time to build many
prototypes. In case of something new like the hybrid system
for which Toyota had no prior experience, a sufficient
number of prototypes would be built.
Complete prototypes, including the body, were built at
the end of 1995, in April 1996, in February 1997 as the
official prototype, and in June for final approval. Twenty to
thirty prototypes were built each time, and the total came
out to be around 100. That number is exceptionally high for
a new model of an existing car. But
63