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Toyota engineers reflect as Prius approaches 10th birthday

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by zenMachine, May 22, 2007.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    "The development of the Prius was a continuing process of trial and error," said Satoshi Ogiso, executive chief engineer at Toyota's product planning division.

    Ogiso has been involved in the development of the Prius since the very beginning. "What kept us going was our motivation to develop the world's first (hybrid car) product."

    Initially, the team worked to achieve at least a 50 percent boost in fuel economy by improving conventional gasoline engines.

    But that did not satisfy Akihiro Wada, then executive vice president of Toyota. His order to double fuel efficiency had the team members at a loss...

    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070522a2.html
     
    #1 zenMachine, May 22, 2007
  2. etyler88

    etyler88 etyler88

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    I seem to recall posts that said Japan had a Prius version before the USA meaning that the current Prius is generation 3 in Japan and generation 2 in USA but this article presents Japan and USA generations as the same, probably just went on sale sooner in Japan.
     
    #2 etyler88, May 23, 2007
  3. JimboK

    JimboK One owner, low mileage

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    There was an earlier Japan-only Prius. But it was more than just a matter of going on sale sooner. There were differences between that and the second gen model, mainly under the hood. Here's a good summary of the three generations of Prii.

    I don't know why the article linked by ZenMachine describes the current model as second generation. Maybe because the NHW10 and NHW11 are nearly (completely?) identical on the outside. Maybe the Toyota execs don't consider it enough of a change to deem it a new "generation." Who knows. Confusion over the term "generations" supports the use of the NHWxx model numbers in distinguishing between them.
     
    #3 JimboK, May 23, 2007
  4. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ May 22 2007, 02:20 PM) [snapback]447463[/snapback]</div>
    "The Partnership for the Next Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) was founded. It was a 10-year project setup in America by the Clinton administration to help fund research into developing family-sized vehicles that could deliver 80 MPG efficiency. All the American automotive companies were invited to participate, using the money the government provided. Toyota was denied the opportunity to join because they were a Japanese automotive company. Toyota, very upset by not being included, secretly began a project of its own."

    It's funny how Clinton tried to help the american car companies, but indirectly screwed them.

    Funny,
     
    #4 burritos, May 23, 2007
  5. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ May 23 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]448201[/snapback]</div>
    It's probably an error or confusion on the reporter's part.
     
    #5 zenMachine, May 23, 2007
  6. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ May 23 2007, 09:48 AM) [snapback]448248[/snapback]</div>

    I think they screwed themselves.



    The American car companies continued with the cars that were selling, Toyota and Honda looked at the cars they thought would be in demand in the future.
     
    #6 dogfriend, May 23, 2007
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(etyler88 @ May 23 2007, 07:42 AM) [snapback]448153[/snapback]</div>
    2 generations. The one we got in 2001 was simply an updated version of the original (like how the 2006 model was a midlife update to the 04-05 versions).

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ May 23 2007, 08:42 AM) [snapback]448201[/snapback]</div>
    They look identical. Updates to the 2001 model include the removal of rubber bumper inserts, new alloy design, touchscreen MFD, a bit more hp from the engine, higher engine redline (4,500 instead of 4,000) and NiMH batteries (instead of D-Cell). The US version got a rear spoiler and the Canadian version had cruise control and a CD player

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ May 23 2007, 10:08 AM) [snapback]448266[/snapback]</div>
    Nope. There only has been 2 generations.
     
    #7 Tideland Prius, May 23, 2007
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