Toyota Unveils Eco-Vehicle Assessment System

Toyota Motor Corp. announced plans to introduce a unique and comprehensive environmental impact assessment system for reducing the environmental impacts of motor vehicles from production through use and disposal, based on the concept of life cycle assessment (LCA). The system will be implemented for all newly-developed vehicles starting in 2005.

The new system is called the Eco-vehicle Assessment System (Eco-VAS), and has following characteristics:

1) The person responsible for the development of a particular vehicle model sets environmental impact reduction targets for that model at the very start of planning.

2) Environmental impact assessment is carried out on a wide range of items, including fuel efficiency, exhaust emissions and noise during use, recyclability of parts, and emissions of pollution and carbon-dioxide throughout the entire life cycle from production to disposal.

3) A computer network will be established in the near future to allow the project leader and others concerned to access an environmental database in order to check the status of target achievement, confirm results and obtain feedback at any time during the entire development process. The network will start operation in 2004 and will be used for assessing the environmental impacts of vehicle models currently under development.

Through these processes, and under the direct management of the project leader, necessary measures can be taken to confirm and improve each model's performance from the initial stages of development, enabling steady progress toward targets.

Toyota first carried out LCA on a major model series starting with the Estima Hybrid, launched in June 2001. By introducing Eco-VAS, the company aims to further reinforce its commitment to comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/03/0616.html

Posted: 2003/07/28 08:45:49 AM
Japanese version