Company History
Established in 1937 out of Sakichi Toyoda’s weaving machine company
Launched first car (SA Model) inBy: Aaron Fyke,Yuki Wada,Gary Mi,Grace Webber,Tony Palumbo
Established in 1937 out of Sakichi Toyoda’s weaving machine company1947 “Toyota Production System”
formed in 1950 based on Just-In-Time principle. First global expansion in
1959 at Brazil In 1972, cumulative production >10M units
Japan is the world's second largest automobile nation, with 73 million vehicles on
its roads. The automobile industry has been supporting Japan's economy,
while it is to blame for current environmental and energy problems including
air pollution, global warming, noise, congestion, and oil dependence.
For sustainable development of the automobile industry, clean and energy
efficient vehicles are indispensable in Japan and in the world.
its roads. The automobile industry has been supporting Japan's economy,
while it is to blame for current environmental and energy problems including
air pollution, global warming, noise, congestion, and oil dependence.
For sustainable development of the automobile industry, clean and energy
efficient vehicles are indispensable in Japan and in the world.
In Japan, the development of electric vehicles started early in this century.
After the Second World War, owing to the serious shortage of gasoline and
surplus electricity caused by the termination of war industry, the number
of electric vehicles increased rapidly. In 1949, there were 3, 300 electric
vehicles on Japan's roads and annual production was 1,614 units.
The electric vehicles, however, were soon driven out by vehicles using
internal combustion engines with higher performance and lower costs.
The electric vehicle came in the limelight again in the 1960s when pollution
caused by gasoline and diesel vehicles became serious social concerns,
and in the 1970s because of the oil crises.
After the Second World War, owing to the serious shortage of gasoline and
surplus electricity caused by the termination of war industry, the number
of electric vehicles increased rapidly. In 1949, there were 3, 300 electric
vehicles on Japan's roads and annual production was 1,614 units.
The electric vehicles, however, were soon driven out by vehicles using
internal combustion engines with higher performance and lower costs.
The electric vehicle came in the limelight again in the 1960s when pollution
caused by gasoline and diesel vehicles became serious social concerns,
and in the 1970s because of the oil crises.
yen, and produced prototype vehicles with a 455 km range per charge. The development
and introduction of electric vehicles slowed considerably in the 1980s, however, when the immediate environment and energy problems were considered to be overcome with the improvement of conventional vehicles.
In the 1990s, the development of electric vehicles has reached its next stage, motivated by growing concerns over global warming, deterioration of the urban environment, and the 1992 California mandate for zero emission vehicles. High performance electric vehicles, so-called second generation EVs, first appeared on the market in 1997. The vehicles were initially powered by nickel-metal hydride
or lithium-ion batteries, claiming a range of about 200 km per charge.
Toyota RAV4 EV was the first commercial electric vehicle to be powered
by nickel-metal hydride batteries, and Nissan Motor's Prairie Joy EV was
the world's first production electric vehicle powered by lithium-ion batteries.
The Honda EV Plus, unveiled in April 1997, was an electric vehicle of totally
original design. From 1997 until 1999, based on a Memorandum of Agreement
with the California Air Resources Board, about 1000 Japanese electric
vehicles were sold or leased in California.
In conjunction with the concept of new transportation that is environmentally friendly
and benefits urban traffic, advanced compact electric vehicles such as Honda CityPal,
Toyota e-com and Nissan Hypermini have been developed and demonstrated in
sharing and rental EV projects since 1998.
The projects were expected to create a new niche market for electric vehicles.
Currently, however, the production of these second generation EVs is,
limited or at a standstill, which may be caused by their high cost, declined
motivations including the revision and postponement of the California ZEV
regulations, growing expectations to hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell
vehicles, etc. However, new types of one-seater neighborhood
electric vehicles have been released commercially at relatively low prices,
and are now being used in the delivery business and for shorter daily trips.
HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES ENTER THE STAGE
In 1997, Toyota Motor Corp. launched its originally designed production hybrid
passenger car Prius, which changed the stream of electric vehicle’s history.
The vehicle is powered by both gasoline engine and electric motor independently
or jointly, doubling the fuel efficiency to 28km per liter compared with a
conventional Corolla. The vehicle claims lower emissions, half of carbon dioxide and
one tenth of nitrogen oxides compared to a gasoline car. Honda Motor Co.
also launched a gasoline-electric hybrid passenger car Insight in November 1999.
The Insight features the Integrated Motor Assist parallel hybrid system and a
lightweight aluminum body, achieving a fuel efficiency of 35 km per liter at 10.15 mode
and low emissions meeting California's Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle standard.
The development and commercialization of hybrid electric vehicles have made
remarkable progress as a practical option for replacing internal combustion
engine vehicles.
Hybrid passenger cars are driving the clean energy vehicle market,
achieving a substantial success in sales due to the features of high fuel efficiency,
low emissions and affordable price.
TOYOTA 2010
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