Chris Morton 466140
B101 Coursework
The Toyota Prius
•The Toyota Prius is a leading example of environmentally
friendly and energy sustainable cars.
•It is the original hybrid car, with ultra low emissions just
89g per km CO2 and zero emissions for up to 1.2 miles at
up to 31mph.
Hybrid Synergy Drive
•The Hybrid Synergy Drive system allows the Prius to be driven
using a combination of a 1.8 litre petrol motor and two electric
motors, enabling unbelievable efficiency without compromising
the performance or practicality.
Regenerative Braking
•The kinetic energy which is normally wasted as heat
from the brakes is recovered by the electric motor, this
is regenerative braking.
•The electric motor assists in slowing or stopping the
vehicle and the kinetic energy is converted into
electricity and stored in the battery.
Global Warming
•Climate change and global warming are the names given to the
increase in temperature of the Earth's surface.
•Human activity has altered the chemical composition of the
atmosphere through a build up of greenhouse gases.
• This excessive heat will have a huge effect on Earth, from rising sea
levels, melting glaciers and flooding to a risk of extinction for 20-30% of
plants and animal species.
•56.6% of all the world greenhouse gases in 2004 was CO2 from fossil
fuels such as petrol.
Emissions
•In 2008 the EU emitted 3394.4 million tonnes of CO2. Of the 3394.4, the UK
emitted 546.4 million tonnes of CO2.
•This is 15.5% of the total emittance of the whole of the EU.
•Of the 546.4 million tonnes, 131.9 million tonnes was emitted by domestic
transport.
•This is 24.1% of the UK's total emittance.
•Domestic transport includes passenger cars, light duty vehicles, buses, HGVs,
mopeds and motorcycles, domestic shipping, railways and domestic aviation.
• Of the domestic transport, passenger cars make up 55.2%.
•That means that an estimated 72.8 million tonnes of CO2 was emitted by
passenger cars.
If every passenger car was replaced by
the Toyota Prius
• The average passenger car emits 167g per km CO2, 47%
higher than the Toyota Prius.
• If every passenger car in the UK was powered by a hybrid
engine and fitted with regenerative braking such as the
Toyota Prius, the CO2 emissions emitted by passenger cars
in the UK would fall to an estimated 38.8 million tonnes of
CO2.
• The domestic transport CO2 emissions would fall to 88.4
million tonnes of CO2.
• The total UK CO2 emissions would fall to 503 million
tonnes.
• Reducing the EU total CO2 emissions to 3351 million tonnes
of CO2.
Toyota Brand Image
• I believe that the brand image of the Toyota Prius
has been dramatically affected by the Hybrid
Synergy Drive and Regenerative Braking for
marketing reasons as it is capable of targeting the
market in several ways. The ways it is capable of
targeting the market is...
• from an environmentally friendly aspect.
• from a financially economical aspect.
Environmentally friendly aspect
•
•
•
The environmentally friendly aspect is the reduction in CO2 emissions, with the
average passenger car CO2 emissions at 167g per km, compared to 89g per km of
the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Prius has 47% less CO2 emissions.
If we take into consideration media sources, such as the website
www.carbonfootprint.com and the television adverts for act on CO2, which
promote analysis of personal carbon footprints and ways in which to reduce them,
then we can see how the public may feel responsible to make changes to their
lifestyles.
These changes involve resorting to public transport and shared transport such as
shared lifts. Due to the fact that the Toyota Prius emits 43% less CO2 than the
average passenger car, some may find it an alternative when buying a new car as
this prevents the hassle involved in shared lifts and public transport, and a
reduction in a person's carbon footprint is still possible.
The financially economical aspect
• The financially economical aspect is the improved fuel consumption
and lower cost of road tax. The average annual mileage of a
passenger car in the UK is 13,476, the average fuel consumption for
a passenger petrol car in the UK is 37.8mpg.
• From this we can calculate that the average person consumes 356.5
gallons per year, the average cost of petrol is £5.087, so on average
people spend £1813.52 per year on petrol.
• If this is replaced with a Toyota Prius, with fuel consumption of
72.4mpg, the average consumption would be 186.13 gallons per
year, reducing the cost of petrol per year to £946.85 per vehicle.
• The road tax on a Toyota Prius is just £30, compared to £95-£180
for similar size engine, non-hybrid cars.
Sales revenue
• The sales revenue of the Toyota Prius reflects the benefits of the design of
the car as it is a car that is becoming more and more popular as time
passes.
• I believe that the success of the Toyota Prius is due to the hybrid engine
and regenerative braking as it enables low cost transport with an
environmentally friendly vehicle.
• The sales of the Toyota Prius have increased on a steady basis since it was
first introduce in 1997 and by October 2010 the sales of Toyota Prius had
exceeded 2 million worldwide, being sold in Europe, North America, Japan
and other parts of the world.
Success of the Prius
• If we look specifically at the sales of the Toyota Prius, we can fully
assess the success rate over a given period of time by looking at the
increase.
• The range of worldwide annual sales since first produced to 2009 is
402,900 units.
• This is over a period of 12 years, and the average increase in sales is
33400 units per year, so we are able to estimate that in 2010, the
total sales will be roughly 437,600 units.
• I think that this demonstrates the popularity of the Toyota Prius and
how the popularity is rapidly increasing.
Social behaviour
• I think that designs like the Toyota Prius hybrid car have a huge impact on
social behaviour of the consumer because I believe it encourages people
to be conscious of the effects they have on the planet in terms of
environmentally friendly and sustainable living.
• I think that giving people an option to reduce their carbon footprint will
encourage them to do so in other aspects of life, whether it be recycling or
choosing environmentally friendly alternatives in other aspects.
• I also believe that the success of the Toyota Prius puts other car
manufacturers under pressure. In order to compete in the motor vehicle
market other manufacturers will need to come up with a similar product.
• This is evident in recent years with the release of the Escape Hybrid from
Ford, and the Civic Hybrid from Honda, where these companies have had
to adapt to a changing industry in order to keep up.
• I believe that this pressure is necessary in order to prevent global warming
for the future.
My video presentation
• Follow the link to view my video
presentation...
• http://vimeo.com/18824041