Toyota Considers Third Shift To Meet New Prius Demand

[hatrack]

From the Financial Times

"Toyota, the world's third-largest carmaker, is considering adding a night shift at a Japanese factory - the first in its history - to satisfy demand for environmentally friendly petrol-electric cars.

The company wants to increase production of the second-generation Prius hybrid from a planned 6,000 units a month to 10,000, and will decide soon whether to use a third shift at the Tsutsumi factory in Toyota City as a temporary measure. Demand for the car is running at almost double initial estimates.

An overnight shift would be an unprecedented move for the company, which has never run three-shift operations before. It is planning long-term night shifts at its UK factory in Derbyshire and French operations in Valenciennes to support European sales growth, but these will not start until next spring.

EDIT

The Tsutsumi factory produced just short of 10,000 Prius cars in September, its first full month, by using Saturday working and overtime. But sales in Japan alone reached 17,500 in the month and the US, where the hybrid was launched two weeks ago, has recorded 10,000 advance orders."

EDIT/END

EV World

[judge_smales]

1. Great!

I want one of those!

[MoonAndSun]

2. I have been thinking of getting a new vehicle and the Prius is #1 on my

list. Thanks for the link to this article.

[Kolesar]

3. Somebody told me that a replacement battery is about $2000

I would expect that the battery would wear out in five or ten years, especially if used in a cold climate. Can anybody corroborate or refute that replacement cost? It would make a big difference in the operating costs over the lifetime of the vehicle. I understand that the battery is nickel metal-hydride, not lead-acid, so it should be much more expensive.

(Sorry about sidetracking the boffo thread, maybe I should have started another.)

[elfin]

4. My neighbor has one

(in Milwaukee) - got one of the first about 3? years ago and has had no problems, battery or otherwise so far. Loves it. The only thing that bothers me about it is that the front seat is so close to the front bumper. Not very much of a barrier between you and trouble in a collision.

[leesa]

11. You know, my Dodge van had almost exactly the same front end

The collision ratings are good...of course, anything hitting those giant trucks and SUVs will probably not fare well.

[hatrack]

6. $2,000? That's actually good news!

When I bought mine back in 2001, they were estimating the replacement cost at $8,000. Economies of scale in action, I guess.

It's warranted for 8 years, 100K miles, and Toyota's estimate on battery life is 10 years - these figures are for the first version of the Prius. I'm not sure what they're expecting for battery life in Prius 2.0.

[papau]

7. The new Prius has the same battery waranty - 8 yrs and 100K

The Prius has an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on the battery and hybrid systems and a three-year/36,000-mile warranty on everything else.

It is your basic 202 volt 21 kw battery- no doubt in 8 years we will pick it up at Radio Shack.

:-)

[Kolesar]

12. "your basic 202 volt 21 kw battery"

That is funny. Thanks for all of your input.

I sent my last car to the crusher with 13 years and 140,000 miles on it. I could see at least one battery replacement being due in the Prius in its lifetime. A buyer should factor that into his/her acquisition plan. Further, if an owner needed a replacement battery at the time when the car was "looking old" and had mechanical signs of age, a Prius owner would be tempted to just scrap the car (which would be a shame).

[Gingersnap]

9. there is an 8 year warranty on the battery

so it will last at least 8 years or be replaced for free. Dont know the replacement cost. But I'm one of those 10,000 people who has put a deposit down and is on the waiting list. I hope to get it before 2004 and Bush ends the tax credit. (Don't know for sure that he'll do that, but it seems likely, better to give a tax cut to the rich...)>

[hatrack]

14. Actually, the tax deduction will remain - but it will shrink

Under current tax law, it'll drop to $1500 next year, and is scheduled to shrink gradually after that.

Whether they'll amend the tax code as part of the new energy bill, I don't know. Whether they'll even get a new energy bill is questionable.

For that matter, I don't even know if the energy bill as currently constituted is even worth passing and signing - it's basically a buttload of pork for the big energy companies that (get this) the Cato Institute AND the Sierra Club (?!?!) condemned it in a press release earlier this week.

[el_gato]

5. but GM Ford et. al. say they can't sell efficient cars

not that they are liars or anyting

[NNadir]

8. Thanks for this good news Hatrack and your excellent environmental

reporting in general.

I'm actually hoping to get the Civic Hybrid someday. My current Civic gets 33 mpg, good, but not as good as the Hybrid, which in turn is not as good as my bicycle.

[leesa]

10. I love my Prius! 45 MPG (I have a lot of hills to traverse) and it has

great pick-up and speed. Also very roomy. I see lots of them on the road in So Cal and they are rarely even advertised.

[htuttle]

13. Detroit repeats the same stupid mistake from the late 70's

Remember how the Japanese car companies originally made such inroads into the US market?

Detroit was making tuna boats, and people wanted smaller cars. Toyota made them, and made a mint.

Nowdays, it sounds like Detroit is making Uber-SUVs, and people STILL want more efficient, smaller cars. Toyota is making them, and will undoubtedly make another mint.

Doh!