The Chief Architect to the Prius Mr Uchiyamada was very much deeply involved with the project that he gave his full attention to even the minute of the design aspects, for example the Prius does not have a conventional instrument panel instead they are placed at the center to remain symmetrical with the interior, for which he vouched for aggressively .Uchiyamada remarks , “Since we are placing the hybrid system, which is something new inside an exceptional package, we should provide an optimal interior. The driver’s seat should allow the driver to touch and feel the novelty and futurity of the car.”[4] It is worth mentioning that in order to understand the recognition of the centered instrumental panel in actual driving …show more content…
In order to have an engine compatible with the Atkinson Cycle , Toyota choose to modify its existing NZ-type engines by reducing the time for the ‘valve closing’ and making changes to the piston in order to alter the compression ratio . Since the ultimate aim of the new system architecture was to improve the fuel efficiency and thus decrease the carbon foot print, detailed attention was given even to the minutest of the sub- system, for example improved piston rings were used to decrease the friction to achieve better efficiency. Understanding that the battery may not perform as expected under repeated usage , Toyota had to put in a safety factor while deciding the engine power. They decided to add another 3KW to the existing 40 KW, in case the battery fails to perform as …show more content…
It was targeted to reduce the emissions of nitrous oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide from the Prius to one-tenth of the then emissions standards. To do one important function was to keep the catalyst convertor always heated to optimal temperature levels to work efficiently which was achieved by carefully maintaining the interaction between the engine and the catalyst. Whenever the catalyst falls below the optimal temperature the engine is directed by the on-board computer to fire up; the heat from the exhaust will then heat up the catalyst to its optimal functional temperature range. The new designed architecture in fact proved better than the conventional engines where idling of the engine would lower the heat content contained in the exhaust gasses which in turn drops the temperature at the catalyst