The Way You Move

A Car Mother Nature Loves
Shigeyuki Hori looks like your average Japanese salaryman, but at heart he's a speed demon. Once a week the Toyota engineer heads to the company test track at the base of Mount Fuji to try out new models. There he dons a crash helmet, and in a one-on-one communion between car and creator, he barrels his work-in-progress around a track at upwards of 120 m.p.h. The 51-year-old admits he's addicted to the speed rush. "When I'm out there on the track, I'm fearless," he says. Fearlessness has been a useful asset for Hori. As executive chief engineer responsible for the gas-electric hybrid Prius, he spent years battling the idea that environmentally friendly cars would never appeal to consumers or make a profit. Today he stands proudly on the wreckage of that conventional wisdom, having helped create the first eco-car to decisively leave the drawing board and storm the streets of suburbia. More than 110,000 units have been sold worldwide since the first-generation Prius was introduced in Japan in 1997. "Our challenge," he says, "was to achieve our environmental goals without compromising performance and design."

The redesigned 2004 Prius, which draws power from a gasoline engine and an electric motor to deliver 60 m.p.g. on city roads, represents the realization of that objective. Since its debut last year, the car has been the toast of the automotive world. Despite its pedestrian list price of about $20,000, the snub-nosed hatchback is a badge of celebrity chic: Cameron Diaz and Harrison Ford took Priuses to last year's Oscars.

But in the vast, utilitarian office where Hori and his team of engineers are forging the next-generation eco-car, there's little in the way of glamour. Here, innovation comes through team effort, and individual stars are hard to pinpoint. But Hori is no mere taskmaster. "He gives us the freedom to pursue our own ideas," says assistant manager Yohichi Sugiura, an engine expert.

Right now, Hori and his team are focused on the future. "The original Prius proved that hybrid cars were technically feasible. The new model has shown that it can be attractive to consumers. The third generation has to be even more powerful and more fuel efficient," says Hori. His vision for Toyota's eco-friendly autos goes beyond the Prius line. "The next step is to apply hybrid technology to other models and to reduce its price," he says. After that, he has his sights on dispensing with CO2-belching gasoline engines entirely: "Ultimately, the future is in electric power." That might sound like an eco-platitude, but if someone is going to bring an electric car to your driveway, there's a good chance that Hori will be the one to do it.