"Free" Copies of The Prius That Shook The World--m

Got mine today!

I called Thursday afternoon. They must have put it in the mail that afternoon. It's in a priority mail envelope. It arrived today.

Oversize paperback is 6" x 8.25 " and about 5/8" thick. 387 pages. It is a translation from the original which I am not even going to try to type here.

It is printed in Japan on 50% recycled paper. The only ISBN number seems to be for the original Japanese. There is a preface, 14 chapters and an afterword "After Prius".

I found this interesting. On page 378 first paragraph of the afterword "After Prius".

"On the first press day of the Tokyo Motor Show which opened immediately after the official introduction of the Prius, President Hiroshi Okuda stood next to the Prius and spoke highly off the new car as if he were announcing the arrival of the hybrid era. He looked happy and satisfied. At the same time at the Daimler-Benz booth, Chairman Jürgen Schrempp was talking aobu tthe introduction of the FCEV. "We will make our zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicle available by year 2005," he said, obviously trying to highlight his company's competiveness against Toyota which just proudly announced its environmental strategy."

(This was 1998.

It's now 2005 and the Prius is the number 1 best selling hybrid.

Excuse me for being obtuse...but can someone tell me the name of the Daimler-Benz FCEV and where I can go online to see one and read up on it? Where can I buy one and how much is it?

Thought so. )

In the next paragraph the reporter tells Okuda what Schrempp says and Okuda says "Oh really? Then we should introduce our FCEV in 2004. That would be just the right time."

"Reporters who heard his comments later said they felt that the hegemony in the auto industry would soon be determined by environmental technology and that Toyota and Benz would lead the way."

( I ask again....so what is Daimler-Benz offering to compete with the Prius?

Now I expect Toyota to have a marketable FCEV ready before any of the infrastructure is in place to support a purchase.

Why is Toyota ahead of the game? Because they have a long range vision and a plan to make it happen. They're thinking outside of the box. They are taking chances and being creative. As patriotic as I am, I don't see any of our American companies coming close. They are stagnating in the past. They will play it safe into bankruptcy. A major flaw in both our government and our corporations is the refusal to think and plan long term down the road...10 years, 20 years, 50 years. The Japanese do this, we don't. We should. We need to. )

 

Re: Got mine today!

I located an interview with Victor Wouk at Cal Tech. Godfather of the Hybrid.. Interestingly he had to buy a Buick to convert, but (apparently) Mazda provided 2 rotary engines at little or no cost.

 

I guess I'm too late. I called on Wednesday and was told the book was no longer available.

 

I received mine Tuesday, read chapter 1. Background on the lifes and careers of some of the folks involved with Prius / Toyota circa 1992 (projects origins).

The whole concept of someone working for the same company for an entire career blows me away. I almost have the feeling that this book was written exclusively for Toyota employees, documenting a small snippet of the corporation's long and sustainable life. The word Japan is not used at all I believe, it is all strictly about Toyota and what happens within that domain. From that perspective, I can almost imagine them limiting access to the book from the prying eyes of "outsiders."

I've had 9 employers so far in my 25-year career with no more than "annual goals" talk with any of them. The whole notion of someone being brought into a company and spending a few years rotating through all functions, then spending 4 years in this dept, 16 years in a unrelated dept, 4 more years in a completely different function within same company, etc really blows me away.

 

I'm about halfway through the book, and I have to say it's one of the best reads I've had in a long time.

Plenty of information for the techies about the astounding technical achievements and epic problem solving necessary to bring a fully realized hybrid automobile to production in record time.

But even more interesting to me, were the very human stories of the individuals involved and the leadership at all levels of the Prius development that made such an accomplishment possible.

Bigdaddy touches on one of the facets of Toyota corporate culture -- key to demanding and getting such performance and effort out of ones people -- loyalty and investment *down* the chain of leadership as well as up.

The Toyota engineers and managers involved in the project work incredibly long hours and juggled demanding schedules, changing priorities, and what seemed like constantly compressed delivery dates. At one point, one of the project managers is matter of factly said to have informed his wife that he was moving to the company dormitory for the duration of his part of the development. So reading between the lines, one can imagine that all other semblence of "outside" life must have come to a halt.

As a large multinational corporation, Toyota faced many of the same problems that GM has historically found itself enmeshed in. What separates the two companies is their respective reactions to challenges, their commitment to long term planning, and above all, their commitment to their people.

As the story unfolds, many of the Toyota engineers and managers are identified with their positions and titles at the time, and where they are now -- all either promoted within, or in leadership positions in other major Japanese corporations. The reward for success with such a radical, risky, and ultimately paradigm-changing product.

I don't think their is anything uniquely "Japanese" about Toyota's accomplishment with the Prius, or their growth as an automaker on the global stage. However, the key to any of it is vision and leadership. Certainly, with the same level of commitment and motivation, any of the American Big Three automakers might have achieved the same.

GMs CEO would be more than worth his reputed $17 million salary and matching bonus if he had shepherded such an automotive innovation to market. However, it is sadly telling that in a year that saw his company's stock rated as "junk" and market share dwindling, it is still justified that this somehow rates a bonus.

As a fifty-something American worker who has spent most of his life in government service in and out of uniform, I can attest to the heroic efforts men and women are capable of, and will willingly undertake, if only given some leadership, a clear vision of the importance of their task, and the expectation of fair treatment and reward for a job well done.

Somehow, however, many corporate and government "leaders" have lost their will and their way, and would rather now vote themselves pay raises and bonuses regardless of their personal performance or the performance of the organization they are responsible for.

Well, didn't mean to start sermonizing. Suffice to say, it is an excellent book, and should be required reading for anyone undertaking a leadership role of any magnitude.

Steve Zettel
near Libby, MT USA

 

Re: "Free" Copies of The Prius That Shook The Worl

I just called, and unfortunately, they ran out.

 

I've just started it, but one additional observation: It's interesting that it was published before the Prius' huge success of 2004-2005, when the 2nd Generation (US) Prius was released.

It recognizes great efforts before the rest of the world caught up...

 

Re: "Free" Copies of The Prius That Shook The Worl

7/1/2005 2:30 PM Eastern time.

Too late.... I just called, and the lady said they had sold completely out. Darn!

Kevin

 

Thank you, Dr. Fusco and "J". Although I read Prius-2G group, I missed his post.

Anyway, I got my book yesterday. I read half the book already, up to chapter 7. The book answered my question about RX400h that I posted on rxhybrid.com. I tried to start technical discussion there but it seems that site is like a ghost town.

The RX400h has two planetary gear-sets. One as a Power Split Device and the other is used for the Motor Speed Reduction Unit. The Prius book calls it deaccelerator. Deaccelerator was not intergrated in the original (1997) Prius tranaxle due to limited horizontal space. Instead, they used the chain and Counter Drive Gears and created 4 shafts system. RX400h transaxle only has 3 shafts.

Prius Transaxle:
[Broken External Image]:http://home.nyc.rr.com/tewedding/HSD/Prius_Transaxle.GIF

400h Transaxle:
[Broken External Image]:http://home.nyc.rr.com/tewedding/HSD/400H_Transaxle.jpg

I wonder why then, 2004 Prius still use the chain and 4 shafts system. Here is a quote, from interesting 400h article: "The hybrid(400h) transaxle is a three-shaft configuration (as opposed to the Prius’ four-shaft transaxle), which results in a more compact size with reduced noise."

I am guessing it is for better fuel economy? Is the chain more efficient than another planetary gear-set? I am wondering.

Dennis

 

Re: "Free" Copies of The Prius That Shook The Worl

Maybe one of you lucky "owners" of this book would start a lending library....we could sign the book and include a photo of our Prius when we return the book Just a thought.......

 

does anyone know if the back of the book has an ISBN number? i used to work at a bookstore and might have some connections to find it, but only with an ISBN number. i doubt it has one if it was only intended for dealers. i am going to my dealer tomorrow to pick up a cargo net and will definately check to see if they can get me a copy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tiffanyjoy\";p=\"103273)</div>

ISBN: 4-526-04376-1

Dennis

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000\";p=\"103275)</div>

ISBN: 4-526-04376-1

Dennis
[/b][/quote]
are there any 0's around that number?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Steve Zettel\";p=\"103005)</div>

The basis of the Japanese commitment and motivation was inspired by Edwards Deming. The soil was prepared by Mitsushita who became the most revered business man of all time in Japan. It could not have worked in the US because the US would not listen to these two men. The US even tried to put Deming into place here and failed miserably because of power issues and greed.

 

Nope, I typed in exactly without reading what it is for.

Unfortunately, that is for the orginal Japanese book, "Tokyo, Japan - The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, LTD., 1999". I don't think this translated version has an ISBN number.

Dennis

 

oh well, i'll try

 

Re: "Free" Copies of The Prius That Shook The Worl

For those who adamently want a copy keeping checking sites like eBay and abebooks. One is bound to turn up if you wait long enough.

And who know? If there is enough of a demand Toyota might either print another run OR maybe a second book will be written bringing the history of the Prius up to date. I'd really be interestedin what happened from the end of the book through the redesign of the 04-05. Also the philosophy for Toyota's vision long range, like 10-20 years down the road.