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Toyota Prius Information & History

The Toyota Prius is one of the world's first commercially mass-produced hybrid automobiles. Manufactured by Toyota, the Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997. The car was introduced to the worldwide market in 2000 and almost 160,000 units had been produced for sale in Japan, Europe, and North America as of the end of 2003. In Latin, prius means "before" or "first". The Prius (2000 to 2003 model years) is certified as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The 2004 model is certified as an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV), which means it earns PZEV credits, as opposed to it being a Zero Emissions vehicle part of the time.

The car was voted 2005 European Car of the Year, after the fuel-sipping sedan picked up the corresponding Motor Trend Car of the Year title for 2004. The Prius won the North American Car of the Year award for 2004 and was nominated in 2001.

How it Works

The Prius has been called a true hybrid vehicle, designed from the bottom up. Toyota's goal for the Prius was to reduce the amount of emissions it produced and to be as energy-efficient as possible. They used several methods to try to achieve this goal, including:

1. More efficient use of the internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric motors, reducing gasoline consumption. The Prius uses the more efficient Atkinson cycle engine instead of the more common Otto cycle;
2. Two electric motor/generators, providing 67 hp (50 kW) @ 1200 to 1540 rpm and 400 N.m (295 ft.lbf) torque from 0 to 1200 rpm, which significantly contribute to performance & economy.
3. 50 kW IGBT inverter controlled by a 32 bit microprocessor, which efficiently converts power between the batteries and the motor/generators.
4. Lower coefficient of drag at 0.29 (0.26 for 2004 model), reducing air resistance especially at higher speeds;
5. Lower rolling-resistance tires, reducing road friction;
6. Regenerative braking, a process for recovering kinetic energy when braking or traveling down a slope and storing it as electrical energy in the traction battery for later use while reducing wear and tear on the brake pads;
7. Sealed 168 cell nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery providing 201.6 volts;
8. Continuously variable transmission -- the Prius does not use a typical CVT; Toyota calls it the Power Split Device. The electric motors and gas engine are connected to a planetary gear set which is always engaged, and there is no shifting.
9. Flexible resin gas tank, reducing the amount of hydrocarbon emissions in the form of escaped gasoline vapor.

Touted advantages of the Prius over previous energy-efficient designs include never needing to be plugged in, as all power is ultimately delivered from the gasoline engine. This means it drives like a traditional ICE automobile, with the onboard computer taking care of shifting power to and from the engine and motors, and automatically determining when to charge the battery, as well as the most efficient use of the engine or the electric motors (or both) based on driving conditions. This also means that one can not choose to use electricity from other sources to power this vehicle; some consider this to be serious disadvantage. The Prius uses energy that would be otherwise wasted: i.e. when braking, the kinetic energy is partly recovered to recharge the battery instead of being wasted as heat and brake wear.

The engine is permitted to shut down once it has warmed up and the catalytic converter in the exhaust system has reached operating temperature. Once this occurs, the Prius can be driven on electric power only; this is sometimes referred to as "stealth mode" due to the lack of engine noise. This further reduces gasoline consumption and wear and tear on the engine. When driving conditions demand additional power from the engine, it is designed to start up automatically.

Frequent starting up and shutting down of the engine should not cause additional wear and tear nor emission problems, as in conventional automobiles, because the drive motors have enough power to quickly and smoothly spin the engine to optimal rpm (around 1,000) before the engine actually begins to "fire up". This avoids wear when the engine is "running" (with fuel and spark) at very low RPM, as happens in most vehicles.

The Prius gets better fuel efficiency in the city because the batteries get used more, whereas on the highway, the engine is used in order to recharge the batteries, and the wind resistance is higher.

2004 to 2005 Prius

The Prius 2004 model year was a complete redesign of the previous generations of Prius. The new model is based off the new (third generation) Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), replacing the earlier Toyota Hybrid System (THS) technology. The first generation (1997 to 2003) could not run its air conditioning unless the motor was running. In contrast, the 2004 model introduced an all-electric compressor for cooling. This allowed more extensive use of the "stealth mode" (operation on electric motor only).

The drag coefficient of 0.26 was now the second-lowest in the industry, after the smaller Honda Insight at 0.25.

Regenerative braking was greatly improved, relying so little upon the friction-type brakes (except for panic stops) that some Toyota technicians quipped that the original brake pads might well last for the life of the car.

The 2004 Prius emerged as a midsize car with more room than the previous compact, redesigned as a "five-door" model (four doors plus a rear hatch). In general the car remained conveniently narrow on the outside, rather flat sided, and relatively tall (several inches taller than a Camry). The profile was much more continuous, with a short sloping nose transitioning to a highly sloped windshield and an arcing roofline ending in a cut-off Kammback. The additional height allowed a more erect seating position and a higher eye point, giving a better view of the road to the driver. There was also a surprising amount of additional rear-seat leg room, resembling that available in a much larger vehicle. Fold down rear seats with a 60/40 split made for easy carriage of most parcels.

With a smaller and lower voltage NiMH battery and an inverter to step the voltage up to 500 V, the 2004 model was more powerful (2 seconds faster in 0 to 96 km/h acceleration) and is 15% more fuel efficient than the previous generation Prius, with 60 miles per US gallon (4.7 L/100 km) city and 51 miles per US gallon (5.5 L/100 km) highway (according to the EPA). When driven appropriately, commuting and mixed suburban drivers are reporting fuel consumption of 45 to 50 miles per US gallon (6.3 to 5.7 L/100 km).

The multi-function-display (MFD) shows fuel consumption bars for each five minute segment of driving and this can encourage economical driving. The display also indicates instantaneous fuel consumption, which is useful for detecting when the vehicle has switched from electric-only to electric + ICE. At this time it can usually be advantageous to accelerate quickly rather than lug the vehicle, in an attempt to get to a more favorable location or speed range for electric-only mode.

A Smart Entry/Smart Start (SE/SS) option eliminates the traditional ignition key. The "smart key", which resembles a conventional keyless entry remote, has buttons to remotely lock and unlock the door, as well as trigger the alarm system. It is not necessary to use any of the buttons to utilize the SE/SS system. Approaching to within 1 meter of the car while in-posession of the key (even inside a pocket or purse) causes the interior dome lights to fade up (at night). When the person with the key in their posession touches either of the front doors, or the rear hatchback door, that door is immediately unlocked and can be opened. Toyota dealers can program the functionality of the SE/SS system to control which doors are unlocked by this method. Once parked, the car can be locked by a pushing a black button on the exterior door handle. The SE/SS system will detect keys left inside the vehicle when powered-off, and will not allow the vehicle to be locked in this situation.

There is no conventional ignition switch which needs to be turned to start the Prius, that function having been replaced by a simple round "Power" button on the dashboard. With the SE/SS models, the driver need only sit down inside the vehicle (with the fob in their posession), press the brake with their foot and push the "Power" button to start the vehicle. On cars which are not equipped with SE/SS, the driver uses the lock/unlock buttons on the fob, and puts the remote fob into a slot in the dash to allow the car to start.

The vehicle is classified as a SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle), 90% cleaner than conventional gasoline-only automobiles. It comes with an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) certification by CARB (California Air Resources Board).

As an interesting side note, a $2,200 option package offered in Japan gives the Prius the ability to perform parallel parking assisted by the on-board computer. Eighty percent of the Prius buyers in Japan have chosen this option. The system is not intelligent though, particularly lacking machine vision which would allow avoidance of obstructions or pedestrians, so it is very limited.

When the vehicle is turned-on with the "start" button, it is ready to drive immediately in "EV" (electric vehicle) mode, before the internal combustion engine is started to heat-up the emissions control system (including the catalytic converter). The delay between starting the car and starting the internal combustion engine is approximately seven seconds. The Asian and European versions of this vehicle provide a button labelled "EV" that maintains electric vehicle mode after startup, under most low-load driving conditions. The North American model does not have the "EV" button, although the "EV" mode is still supported internally by the Prius high-voltage management computer. While some have speculated that EV mode was not included on North American models in the interest of retaining the warranted battery life of 100,000 miles (160,000 km) in the US - 150,000 miles (240,000 km) in California and several other states, engineers note that EV mode is automatically overridden when the battery requires recharging from the internal combustion engine. The Prius is designed to protect the battery from extreme discharge as well as over-charge and will utilize the engine as-necessary to maintain the optimum conditions for a long battery life. In addition to information at online discussion groups, the PRIUS+ Project offers instructions for do-it-yourselfers who wish to enable the button, and aftermarket components provider Coastal Electronic Technologies offers a kit.

Evolving from the button project, The California Cars Initiative (CalCars) converted a Prius in 2004, adding larger batteries, and private companies EDrive Systems in the USA and Amberjac Projects in the UK announced plans to sell conversion kits in 2006. CalCars initiated efforts to promote fleet purchases of plug-in hybrids to be built by automakers, and documented the emissions benefits of plug-in hybrids not only on California's clean power grid but also on the national (50% coal-fueled) power grid.

Passengers of the Prius can use their Bluetooth-enabled cellphone via the car's audio system without taking the phone out of their pocket. It is the first car released with this feature.

Most Popular Parts For Toyota Prius

2001 - 2003 Toyota Prius Oil Filter Brand: NPN  Part # A6000-174968 Year Range: 2001 - 2003 Model: Prius Application: Oil Filter Notes: Category: Toyota Oil System 2001 - 2003 Toyota Prius Front Brake Disc Brand: Brembo  Part # N1000-90047 Year Range: 2001 - 2003 Model: Prius Application: Front Brake Disc Notes: 5/2000 to 7/2003 Category: Toyota Brake Components / Wheels

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