Toyota's new eco-VAS system

[Timber Loftis]

Today's BNA Reports
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Toyota to Introduce New System
For Environment-Friendly Automobiles


TOKYO--Toyota Motor Corp. said June 16 it will start using from 2004 a new, proprietary environmental impact assessment system that calculates the environmental burden a vehicle poses during its entire life cycle, from raw materials procurement to the disposal of end-of-life vehicles.
The new system, called the Eco-VAS (Vehicle Assessment System), is the first of its kind in the world, according to Toyota officials. The company unveiled it at the fifth Toyota Environmental Forum held here.

Under the system, when the company starts new vehicle planning, the engineer in charge of development sets environmental impact reduction targets for that particular vehicle.

Items to be covered by the assessment include fuel efficiency; emissions of pollutants such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, sulfur oxide,during manufacturing, during vehicle assembly and use; noise levels when vehicles are in motion; the disposal recovery rate of materials (in assembly facilities and from end-of-life vehicles); and the reduction of substances of environmental concern such as lead and arsenic.

The project leader or others responsible will have access to an environmental database to check progress and make necessary adjustments if needed.

Toyota President Fujio Cho told the seminar that the environment is his company's top priority given that over the next 20 years, there will be more than one billion motor vehicles in the world, compared with 740 million now. "The increase is certain to have a tremendous impact on the global environment if attention is not paid to environmental and energy issues," he said.

The company's executive vice president, Akihiro Saito, told the seminar that the life cycle assessment of motor vehicles shows that, of total carbon dioxide emissions during the entire life of a vehicle, vehicle and materials manufacturing accounts for roughly 33 percent, while another 60 percent is burned during the driving of the vehicle, and disposal accounting for the remainder.

This is a major reason why the company decided to make further efforts to manufacture more environmentally efficient vehicles, he later told BNA.

[Rokenn]

Good for them. More companies need to take the entire lifecycle of their products into account. Are they planning on taking back cars at the end of life for recycling as well?

[Xen]

Hmm. Yes good for them...economicly smart move