Next to criminal

I don't consider myself as an environmentalist. I am not active in any environmental organizations, I hardly know what they do, I should recycle more, and I don't buy anything just because they are environment friendly.

However, I just ordered my Prius. Not because it's environmentally friendly, that's just added value. I happen to like the car.

What have all this to do with criminality? I live in Norway, which have extremely high taxes on cars, and lacks every incentive to start car manufacturing. So it was surprising to observe the Th!nk startup. Th!nk is the first mass produced car in Norway, and it's electric. I never believed in the car, nor could I believe a small Norwegian company could compete with the giants. Not with car production.

That changed when Ford bought the Th!nk. They must have done something right, after all. Who would know that Ford later planned to scrap 400 fully functional cars? Cars that both American and Norwegian consumers wanted?

If not a criminal offense, it's still an offense. And a prime example of business insanity. Ford now have to work hard to be considered as one of my future options. Too bad, really. I like their new car designs. Now that I soon will own a Prius, and Toyota are pushing their hybrid technology to other models, I think my next car will be a Toyota, too. Ford will have to work hard to get my attention again.

More Prius Links

History:

• 10th Birthday.
• First Generation.
• Who Killed the Electric Car?
• Ford Thinks Crushing the Th!nk Is Better Idea.

Community:

• puregreencars. News on technology, hybrids.
  
• greenhybrid. There are some statistics, too. The manual Insight has the best mileage.
  

Toyota Prius

I have ordered my Toyota Prius, but it's not available until another month. I never thought I would feel this way about a car; this is worse than being 7 years old and waiting for Christmas Eve in November!

While I'm waiting, I read everything I can about the car, about Toyota and about Lean.

Prius, which apparently is Prii in plural:

• The Birth of the Prius.
• The Prius owners group.
• The Prius isn't the only hybrid around. Here's an average owner's Camry experience.
• The Lexus, however, is way out of my reach.
• Some of the hypermiling tricks are too extreme for me.
• See how it works in the Tech Center. Also look at this cool, interactive animation of the PSD.
• Toyota Hybrid System THS II.
• A feature article on the '04 model.
• An article on the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring Edition. It's a shame that the auto-dimming rear view mirror is not available here in Norway.
  

Apparently, Toyota errs too:

• My Bitchin', Toyota. From LeanBlog
• From This Is Broken: Prius shifter. I have test driven the Prius, and don't find the shifter problematic at all. Neither did I order the GPS, so I won't share the experience of one of the commenters.
• And that reverse beeper, loud and interior only. What were they thinking? I know the first thing I'll do. I just hope it will work on my model, as it will not be a North American one.

Toyota and Lean:

• Norwegian pages: Fenomenet Toyota - del 1, 2, 3.
• And a Swedish one: Nästa stora trend: "lean" produktutveckling.
• Yes, Gimme ultra-caps.

This and that:

• www.gembapantarei.com
• Japanese Management in the Global Economy

Heavy stuff:

• I tried to follow until the equations arrived: Development of Traction Drive Motors for the Toyota Hybrid System.