The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

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Having watched Toyota for four years, I interviewed many people involved in the development of Prius in the course of six months to get answers to those questions. I would like to thank especially Mr. Shinji Miyatake and Mr. Shoichiro Ohtsuka of Toyota Motor Corporation's Nagoya Public Affairs Division for their help with my project. I also would like to thank many others at Toyota for their cooperation and help. April 1999 Hideshi Itazaki *Toyota Motor Corporation merged with Toyota Motor Sales in 1982 and became the present day Toyota Motor Corporation. Except in a few instances, the name Toyota refers to the consolidated company. **Titles and positions used throughout this book, including addenda in parentheses, are as of original publication date: April 20, 1999. 9
Chapter 1 Eiji Toyoda's Order - Project G21 Even as the bubble economy was at its peak in 1990, Toyota Chairman Eiji Toyoda (now Honorary Chairman) repeatedly expressed his sense of crisis at every chance. At the regular Board meetings he would ask, "Should we continue building cars as we have been doing? Can we really survive in the 21 st century with the type of R&D that we are doing now?" The new models being introduced by auto makers during the bubble economy period had grown fancier and larger, loaded with excessive features and accessories. Toyota had applied its best technology towards developing sedans that could compete with the top luxury cars of the world such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and that had culminated in the introduction of the Celsior. With every model change, other Toyota models, such as Mark II, Corona, and Corolla, had become more luxurious. Corolla, which initially had been designed as a popular sub-compact car, now cost close to two million yen, and was nicknamed "mini- Celsior" due to its long list of features and accessories, as well as its exterior design. Eiji Toyoda, who had led postwar Japan's motorization with fellow engineer Soichiro Honda (founder of Honda Motors), was concerned. "There is no way that this 10
Page 2 and 3: THE PRIUS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD HOW
Page 4 and 5: Preface September 28, 1998. That wa
Page 6 and 7: had of the company. However, they d
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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