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Prius Plug-in Hybrid’s are headed this way
Posted by Colin Hensley on January 15, 2010 in 360° approach, Green Technologies
The end of 2009 saw some important milestones in the development of our Prius Plug-in Hybrids (PHV). We had the launch in Japan of the next phase of the PHV trials, and the handover of the first car for Europe to Mr Roland Ries, the Mayor of Strasbourg. The handover was organised by Etienne and Maria from the team here, in collaboration with colleagues from TMC. We had always planned to have the handover of the first PHV at the end of 2009, and by coincidence, the famous Christmas Market of Strasbourg had decided to “export” itself to Tokyo. This turned out to be a perfect match, and put the Mayor on location to receive the key for PHV that came literally straight from the plant! Though, knowing it’s from Tsutsumi, I should probably say “plants”.
The handover was a very festive affair. Between the wooden stalls of the market, the twinkling Christmas lights, the PHV was unveiled to be inside a huge snow globe. At that point, following some short speeches, Mr Uchiyamada, EVP of TMC handed over the massive car key – no chance of losing that one. Fortunately for the potential driver, this is just a symbolic key, they car itself follows a more traditional approach for starting up, but a less conventional one for fuelling.
Offering more than 20km in EV mode the PHV gives totally emission-free motoring for most of your daily journeys (assuming you charged it up with electricity from renewable sources). Furthermore, It can be charged on normal household power in less than two hours. There will be more than 190 PHVs coming to Europe over the next months, and with this number of vehicles, we will be able to gauge the actual expectations and requirements of the customer. Consequently, the future mass-production model should be well appreciated.
What are your thoughts on Plug-in hybrids?
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Comments(0)Planning to plant plants at the plants: stories from Tsutsumi
Posted by Colin Hensley on November 12, 2009 in sustainability
There are sometimes stories that we don’t write about, that are actually of great interest to many people. This seems to have been the case with the plants that have been bred by TMC’s Biotechnology & Afforestation Business Division in Japan, and are used, amongst other places at the Prius plant. I have to admit I missed the significance of this when I visited Tsutsumi last June, but there has been a great buzz around the blogs about this.
What they have done is identified plants that have particular characteristics that can improve the environment. This includes absorbing pollutants, like NO2 or SO2 or emitting more water vapour to cool the air. Then through a breeding programme they were able to further improve the level of these characteristics.
Two types of plants that are used extensively around Tsutsumi are Salvias and Gardenias. The Kirsch Pink Salvia can control heat and absorb pollutants, while the Kirsch Red has fast early growth which fixes more CO2. These are used around the factory alongside the Gardenias that have similar properties, and can even grow in the dark!
There is also a special type of slow-growing grass that only needs mowing once a year and is planted on the roof, in between the solar panels, (I’d quite like that for my garden.)
FUTURE MOTORING, AS WE SEE IT, FROM THE TOKYO MOTOR SHOW
Posted by Colin Hensley on October 25, 2009 in 360° approach, Green Technologies
On Wednesday I was able to spend some time at the Tokyo Motor Show, and to quote our President Akio Toyoda, it “wasn’t as lively as it used to be”. That being said, we still had quite a lot to show at the Toyota and Lexus stands. In the central area was the new electric vehicle, the FT-EV II. I was lucky enough to have an explanation from Yanaka-san, who has been involved in the development of the vehicle. Some of the key features are 90km range, 100km/h top speed and drive-by-wire technology using a joystick!, this ensures there is plenty of legroom, because there are no pedals!! I do believe that this kind of electric vehicle will be a boon in the cities, where we do lots of short journeys, back and forth work or the shops.
We could also see the second generation PHV that we were proud to have as world premiere in Frankfurt. When I look at it compared to the FT-EV II I see that PHV is basically an EV with an extended range thanks to it being a proper full hybrid. For 20km, (that’d easily get me to work and back) it drives as an EV, then takes the power from the engine, in combination with the electric motor. Here at Toyota we believe this is a really practical approach to using electricity in transport and ideally this electricity will come from renewable sources
My absolute favourites were the personal mobility devices. These include the Winglets, which are two-wheeled, “personal-transport-assistance robots” sounds cool, and looks even cooler. Just jump on, lean in the direction that you want to go, and zoom, off you glide. One day soon, I hope to have a go, and then I’ll be sure to write about it here.
Looking across the range of vehicles, all of them use different aspects of the technology that we have developed in the hybrid programmes. Motors, batteries, power control units and most importantly the software based logic to manage the use of the different sources of energy. With more than 2 million hybrids on the road, I think it’s fair to say we know exactly what needs to be done to make the best use of electricity in transportation.
P.S. At the show I also saw the new FT-86 (hachi roku) Concept, a compact rear wheel drive sports car. I thought it was a really lovely looking car, and, with its 2 litre engine, and light body, it will even have good environmental performance.
Spotlight on the new full hybrids – made in a plant near you soon!
Posted by Colin Hensley on September 29, 2009 in 360° approach, Clean Operations, Green Technologies
Sunday saw the closing of the doors of IAA in Frankfurt for another two years. It’s probably one of the biggest motor shows in the world. I don’t know if it has the largest number of visitors, but it is definitely, geographically, huge! I just measured it on Google Earth (50° 6′40.39″N, 8°38′43.52″E), and it’s more than a kilometre across, which goes a long way to explaining why my legs still ache following our 3 days of activities. Anyway, it was a very exciting show for us, as we had two cars on the Toyota stand and one on the Lexus stand that were being seen for the first time ever, anywhere!. Perhaps the best part of this is that all three are hybrids. As most people don’t get the chance to go on the IAA exercise programme, let me just do a bit of product PR, and give a few details on these cars.
Our locally produced highlight is the Auris HSD Full Hybrid Concept. It’ll be made in the TMUK plant starting next year. I hope to have the chance to visit the plant during the preparations for the production. After visiting Tsutsumi earlier in the year, I can’t wait to see one of our European Sustainable Plants producing this new full hybrid.
The Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept also proved to be of great interest to the visitors. Our target for CO2 emissions for this car is under 60g/km with a 20km range. One of my colleagues who drive the car recently in Japan raved about the seamless acceleration up to100km/hr in EV mode.
On the Lexus stand we had the LF-Ch concept, which was displayed in an amazing yellow colour. This is the first concept in the C-segment, and should be a stylish and practical option for people.
Finally, I’d just like to say congratulations to the source of many great blog topics, Karen from TMUK, who just celebrated her marriage to Darren; have a great eco-life together.
Sustainability reporting, more sustainably
Posted by Colin Hensley on September 04, 2009 in Clean Operations
So, the holiday season has come to an end, and the weather here in Brussels has taken a turn for the greyer and wetter. During the last months my colleagues here have been working on the 2009 edition of the TME Sustainability Report. One thing was clear from the start, it was time to move to have online as our primary communications channel for the report. We previously did have a PDF version on the website, but we were also printing copies. This will no longer be the case, for the FY2008 report, there will be a PDF, but perhaps more importantly all of the content will be fully incorporated into the Toyota corporate website. The report details environmental, social and economic activities of Toyota in Europe, including case studies. We’d love to hear your feedback on the report, either here, or through the addresses on the website.
Speaking of environmental activities, TMUK have been continuing to live up to their sustainable plant title. In the summer they held an Environmental Day, and Eco Plant Expo, which was attended by more than 3000 people. As well as showing off eco-kaizens in the plant itself, there was a nature trail around the balancing lake area and there was even a tree planting event. Visitors also had a chance to drive the lowest CO2 vehicles in our fleet. All in all it was a very educational and enjoyable day out.
Let’s not forget the new Auris HSD full hybrid will also be produced in TMUK. The concept will be on show for all to see in Frankfurt at the IAA.
See you there!
