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The Birth of the Prius

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by mehrenst, Feb 24, 2006.

  1. mehrenst

    mehrenst Member

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    Toyota had to overcome punishing deadlines, skeptical dealers, finicky batteries, and its own risk-averse culture to bring its hybrid to market.

    From Fortune Magazine

    Alex Taylor III
    February 24, 2006: 11:07 AM EST

    (FORTUNE Magazine) - In late 1995, six months after Toyota decided to move forward with its revolutionary hybrid, the Prius, and two years before the car was supposed to go into production in Japan, the engineers working on the project had a problem. A big problem.

    The first prototypes wouldn't start. ....>>> Complete Article
     
    #1 mehrenst, Feb 24, 2006
  2. jeromep

    jeromep Member

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    Nice article. Reads like The Prius that Shook the World.
     
    #2 jeromep, Feb 24, 2006
  3. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    I've been reading up on this article. (Fortune Magazine)... it's a pretty cool write up.. every time i read it :)
     
    #3 V8Cobrakid, Feb 24, 2006
  4. mehrenst

    mehrenst Member

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    I really found it interesting. Kind of shows you what can happen when management supports a direction and marketing stays out of the way. This was obviously an engineering driven effort. I have to give real credit to management for keeping the nay-sayers out of the way and letting engineering solve the problems. :D
     
    #4 mehrenst, Feb 24, 2006
  5. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Quoting from the article:

    Emphasis mine.

    Makes you wary about after-market battery add-ons, no?
     
    #5 daniel, Feb 24, 2006
  6. Excellerator

    Excellerator New Member

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    In the article they quote Car & Driver, concerning the first-generation Prius:

    Is that true? Do first-gen Priuses really act that way? :blink: I know it's a quote from a car magazine, and car magazines usually complain about everything, but I don't want to be set on a used hybrid only to be heartbroken on a test drive.
     
    #6 Excellerator, Feb 24, 2006
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    beautifully written
     
    #7 DaveinOlyWA, Feb 24, 2006
  8. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    No!

    That is a complete lie. Many reporters simply made up stuff back then. It's what helped to feed my fire. They were learning what I already knew, since I owned one and had done 8 months of intense study before finally taking delivery. Prius had been through many improvements and such big design risks that it was beginning to really pay off. And they feared that.

    By the way, you mean "second" generation. The reporters went out of their way to conceal the reality that Prius had already been given a major overhaul. That mind game worked so well that some people still don't realize "third" is the correct label for what we are driving now. However, we do have articles just like this one that are helping to point out the history Prius had before the American rollout. THIS LINK is what I use for a simple summary.
     
    #8 john1701a, Feb 24, 2006
  9. Excellerator

    Excellerator New Member

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    Hmm... You learn something new every day. :lol: Thanks for the information. :)
     
    #9 Excellerator, Feb 25, 2006
  10. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Great article!
    I haven't ever driven the 1st gen, err classic, but personally, I'd go for a used 2nd gen if I were you or a new 2nd gen so that you can get the tax credit.

    Regadless of what C & D said back then, they liked the 2nd gen enough to give it one of their of their 10Best Car awards in January 04.

    http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?se...article_id=7582
     
    #10 cwerdna, Feb 25, 2006
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