Concept Prius drive system leads to HCH

I have just finished reading "The Prius That Shook The World" (all 388 pages). It is a really good book about the development of the Gen I Prius. It is full of names and details which makes it move slowly at times, but gets more interesting toward the end.


Now the real reason I am writing this post. Back in the Spring of 03, at the New Car Show held here each year (a really nice show in and 11 acre building where you can get in all the new cars and push the buttons, twist the knobs, etc) I was talking to one of the pretty ladies working the Toyota display about the Prius and Honda hybrids. She said that the HCH and Insight were Toyota designs.


Well, I couldn't really believe that because the Gen I Prius on display had such a different power train from the HCH. I have thought about that from time to time, but it didn't make sense till last night and there it was on page 388 of the book. There are diagrams and pictures on the last page that show it very well.


In 1995 at the Toyko Motor Show, Toyota exhibited the Prius concept car. A picture of it and diagrams showing the operation of the drive train are shown on page 388. There is also a picture of the engine/motor/transmission package.


The diagrams show an electric motor/generator sandwiched between the engine and a belt type CVT. The first one shows that energy stored in a capacitor spins the motor and starts the engine. The second one shows normal driving running on the engine only. The third one shows that during braking regerated energy is put back into the capacitor. The last one shows that during acceleration energy from the capacitor is used to run the motor and help drive the car.


Now substitute a battery for the capacitor and you have the Insight and HCH drive systems. It is all there on the last page. The lady was right. I could hardly believe my eyes.


Somewhere on Priuschat you can find a link to the book in PDF format. That is where I found it, but don't remember just where. A search should turn it up. If you find it, check out the last page.

 

It probably isn't a regular book page, but it is the last page of the PDF. If you find it and open it in Acrbat and press control/end, it should show up. The book proper did not have any illustrations. I should have worded the post a little more carefully.