The development of the new Toyota Prius from its 1997 predecessor was conducted almost from scratch and resulted in improved environmental and driving performance. The Prius, whose name is derived from the Latin for "prior to", is positioned to play a significant role in determining the current and future direction of the automobile. The Prius answers the question of what form vehicles could take in the 21st century if they take the environment into consideration.
Innovation
Six years after launching its first-generation Prius, Toyota launched a new Prius that embodies a complete redesign of the original model with improvied fuel efficiency and an advanced powertrain to improve performance. Its final evolution did not come easily and was the result of a seven prototypes, all of which were put through extensive driving tests.
The second time around Toyota made a decision to go with a new main system called THS II (Toyota Hybrid System II). The major improvements made by THS II were the adoption of a high-voltage power-control system for the motor drive voltage and enhancement of the system's potential by improving the performance of the engine, the motor, and the generator, and by increasing the regeneration capacity.
The adoption of a high-voltage power-control system was the key. A method of increasing motor output by increasing voltage is nothing new. As a matter of fact, such a method is routinely used in industrial machines and trains. However, even though the Toyota development team knew that such a technology existed, the idea of incorporating it into an automobile did not easily occur to them. First of all, the system itself would take up a substantial amount of space and secondly, there was no prior example of applying this particular method to a motor that switches between output and power generation at such a dizzying pace. In other words, while the adoption of a high-voltage power-control system could expand the potential of hybrid vehicles, it could also pose many challenging and unpredictable problems.
In terms of acceleration, the new Prius realizes performance on par or exceeding that of the 2.0-liter Allion or 2.4-liter Camry. Fuel efficiency has also been improved from 31.0km/liter to 35.5km/liter.
"To achieve this improvement, the engineering team made many finely tuned enhancements, rejoicing at every level of efficiency improvement along the way to ultimately achieve the final figure,"says Satoshi Ogiso, current Concept Planner in Toyota's Product Development Group.
Impact
Prius leads the pack in the race to produce the ultimate eco car. In addition, because of its low-emissions performance, the new Prius has received the new Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle rating in Japan, the Advanced Technology PZEV emission rating in the U.S.A., and the Euro 4 certification in Europe. Toyota expected to sell 70,000 vehicles in Japan and 60,000 vehicles overseas in 2004. Among the overseas markets, North America is performing particularly well with sales of 49,000 vehicles in 2004. In conjunction with the favorable sales, production was increased in April 2004 from 7,500 units per month to 10,000 units and Toyota is moving towards achieving its goal of expanding the adoption of a high environmental performance car. Ogiso, who has been involved with product development since the first-generation Prius, explains: "No matter how good the environmental performance, if the system does not come into wide use, its benefits will not be felt by society. Promoting the widespread use of vehicles that are considerate of the environment will lead to true environmental responses."
The new Prius has won numerous awards around the world including the Good Design Award 2003 and the 2003-2004 North American Car of the Year.
Inspiration
Toyota president, Fujio Cho, made the following statement: "It bothers me when I'm told that in the 100 years of automobile development Japan has not contributed anything. Unfortunately, the starting lines were different, so nothing can be done about this. With respect to the environment, however, the starting line is the same for everyone. Toyota will make every effort so that we can hear that Japan's technology has contributed this much to the environment."
The first-generation Prius sought to be the embodiment of this idea. The new Prius contributes even more to the environment and further promotes popular usage of hybrid systems.
The World Inquiry editorial team edited this profile from the original submission of the interviewer or other source. The views expressed do not necessarily represent Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Management or the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. More >>
