I had never seen Who Killed the Electric Car? until last night. I was very surprised at their claim that the Toyota (Prius) and Honda hybrids were developed because they were afraid GM, Ford and others were going to beat them to the next generation of automobiles (EV and/or hybrids, which GM had worked on but ultimately dropped)! Toyota and Honda went on to have far greater success with hybrids than any other automaker, but is that how it really started? I was quite surprised after reading for years how forward thinking Toyota was to bring the Prius to market...the movie suggests otherwise. Who Killed the Electric Car? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I swear that Prius chat could keep a moderator busy full time merging threads for those who will not use search. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...7-who-killed-electric-car-part-ii-toyota.html
Here this has some accuracy. From Fortune .... The Birth of the Prius. The Birth of the Prius - March 6, 2006
The book "The Prius that shook the World" tells the whole story of the development of the Prius. It is about 360 pages long and gets better as you get deeper into it. Do a google search and you may find it on line.
It is a good thing GM is not in charge of national defense. "We are building nuclear bombs." (enemy then builds nuclear bombs) GM: "We were just kidding." (enemy launches nuclear bomb). GM drives a normal ICBM with "Volt nuclear" written on the side to Washington and begs for a bailout. Several months later, GM files for bankruptcy and Toyota takes over the United States. Apparently the executive staff of GM never heard the childrens story about crying wolf.
Sam Roe, a reporter at the Chicago Tribune did a special multi-part story for the Trib. He gave me specific and written permission to distribute his work. In his opinion, this is a story that really needs to be told. To my knowledge, this article wasn't originally distributed outside Chicago but I've been trying to distribute it when I can. It's important to note that Sam wrote this piece in 2003. This is the year before the GenII Prius was introduced. The rest, as we know, is history. http://www.chicagopriusgroup.com/resources/SuperCar.pdf
Defense? Some of us have been playing offense with Prius for many, many years now. Read the forum posts and blogs (like these) from way back when gas was dirt cheap and gaint guzzling SUVs were the rage. .
Excellent read, thanks so much for the link. Pretty much explains how the US pushed Toyota to build the first Prius - and the success Toyota has ultimately enjoyed as a result. And corroborates what the Who Killed the Electric Car? movie stated. Not something that I've seen acknowledged here at PriusChat or elsewhere before...
The National Academies Press published a book on PNGV. One can read it all online, but I'll highlight the specs table for the 3 cars beginning on page 62: Review of the Research Program of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles: Sixth Report Thanks for the pdf Tony. It is also linked on the PNGV wikipedia page, so at least a few other folks have probably enjoyed it as well.
Tony; thanks for posting the "Super Car Fund" article. it really details how the US auto industry had a big time jump on hybrid technology but also did whatever they could to get out of doing it. this article is the one i reference the most when talking to other people about why I did not buy American. i have printed out it out in whole or part probably over 100 times. this also really illustrates just how much ground was lost when Gore lost the election. things would have been so much different in the auto industry today if he had been elected and was able to continue the project he started back in the early 90's
Yes, thanks Tony ... and John17091a ... you old time Prius Geezers. As a 2004 "johnny come lately" ... I am not worthy! Ain't it an irony though? The U.S. auto business gave hybrids the ol' ad man - media spin, "hybrids & hydrogen are just around the corner" ... and those crazy folks at Toyota bought into the phony bragging! aaaah hahahahahahahhaaaaa ~ And now? We have every Tom Dick & Harry in the auto industry touting EV's and PHEV's. Thank God! If it wasn't for all the "look what we're about to do" liars out there ... (sad to say) Toyota may not have gotten paranoid enough to DO something! And YES ... I've been saying for years, that Toyota wouldn't have done the great things they've done ... but for the BS that GM bragged about ... but never intended on doing .
I first read it on the web site. I bookmarked it but it was taken down. I am so glad Sam took the time and converted it to PDF. Thank you Tony for distributing it. When I read it as a Prius fan, I didn't know to either cry or laugh. It is one of those story that gives you mixed emotion and yet it is a true story. I wouldn't say Prius was started as defensive project but to compete.
I knew parts of this story from the gross, high-level decisions and often pointed to the evidence in a Huntsville based, USENET group. Yet our right-wing nuts would over and over again, deny reality and 'drink the koolaid.' But I can't read this new edition in one sitting or I'd have to type with clinched fists. It is in the same folder as "The Prius That Shook The World" and eventually I chew through this new addition. I remember back in the early 1970s when the first EPA standards came out thinking, "This is good thing. The only way to reduce vehicle pollution is to make them more efficient." Then a couple of years later, I was so disappointed to see engine compartments looking like a plumber's nightmare. Bob Wilson
We have also heard (including from some high-level ex-Toyota employees) that Toyota received massive Japanese taxpayer assistance for the Prius project. If true, I say thank you to Japanese taxpayers! The result was a fine product (for me, etc.) and a boost for one of their companies. American taxpayers certainly paid for PNGV/Freedomcar, and the result was...um...
Looking to see what happened next in the story I ran into this video showing how the hydraulic engine works. http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/cleantransport/content/hydraulic-hybrid-how-it-works-animation
But does it exist? You of course already know that Hino, a Toyota company make a Diesel Electric Hybrid truck.
