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SUBARU'S PARENT COMPANY, FUJI
HEAVY INDUSTRIES, TACKLES THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING EVER
TOUGHER ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS WITH A DETAILED CORPORATE
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY THAT’S AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING
THEY DO.
The Concept B5 Cross-Over Sports Coupe - Petrol/Electric Hybrid Symmetrical All Wheel Drive Turbocharged Boxer Engine
FHI president and CEO Kyoji Takenaka says: "To address
environmental issues, we set our management goal to become
an eco-friendly company. Based on the idea of offering
our customers clean products from a system of environmentally
clean factories, logistics networks and distributors,
we have been working to conserve the global environment
by developing a new voluntary plan for the environment
called the FHI Environmental Conservation Program (fiscal
years 2002-2006). We have achieved outstanding results
to date, particularly in waste reduction and energy conservation
in the production stage."
Since the Kyoto Protocol became effective in 2006, further
reduction of CO2 is required in industry, transportation
and consumer goods around the world. As a result of FHI’s
plan for the environment, the company has reduced CO2
levels even further than planned by promoting energy
conservation at the plants and by introducing a natural
gas cogeneration system. FHI is also focused on reducing
CO2 emissions in their Subaru motor vehicles by improving
fuel economy through weight reduction technologies.
Although it is producing more vehicles, Subaru’s factories
use 28 per cent less energy than they did in 1990. By
2008 the vehicles will already meet fuel economy standards
in Japan, the United States and Europe which do not have
to be met until 2010.
Producing ‘greener’ cars occurs at all steps in the
process at Subaru, from development and design, through
manufacturing, servicing and ultimately disposal at the
end of the vehicle’s life. In January 2005, the law on
Recycling End-of-Life Vehicles came into force in Japan.
FHI seeks to not only comply with this law but also develop
products that are easier to recycle. By 2015 Subaru expects
to be able to recycle 95 per cent of every vehicle it
manufactures. The use of mercury, cadmium, hexavalent
and chromium has been deleted from the manufacturing
process and lead is only used at just 10 per cent of
what it was a decade ago.
Subaru Wind-Power Generator System - With a maximum
capacity of 3 Megawatts (MW) it provides enough electricity for over 1,200
households
The vehicles themselves are now being designed and built
so they are easier to dismantle and separate the metal,
glass, plastic and other materials. Subaru, together
with most other major manufacturers in Japan, has established
a partnership company to recycle fluorocarbons, airbags
and other difficult to deal with parts from vehicles.
95 per cent of Subaru’s outside suppliers also
meet the same environment management standards as Fuji
Heavy Industries’ own facilities. The types of plastics
used are now identified subtly on the outside, rather
than the need to take the part off the car before identifying
what it is. Instead of being dumped, the paint sludge
from the giant paint troughs all vehicle bodies go through
is now used to make vibration absorption panels for the
floor of the vehicles. Over the last eight years wastage
in the painting process has been reduced by 57 per cent.
The motor industry is also using waste from other industries.
Nylon fishing nets are being turned into engine covers,
while scrapped bumpers are being remanufactured into
cabin trim, battery pans, splash trays for under the
motor, tailgate trims and luggage shelves in wagons and
hatches.
Processes have been developed to get the plastic out
of laminated windscreens, so the glass can be re-cycled.
Until recently, laminated screens, which meet safety
regulations, had to be dumped.
And longer service intervals means less consumable products
are being used in the life of a vehicle.
It is now possible to produce electric power from renewable
energy sources with less environmental impact, such as
solar, wind, water and geothermal power, but the challenge
is how to store the electricity for maximum efficiency
and effectiveness. From around 2002, the company channelled
millions of dollars into research and joined with NEC
Corporation to establish NEC Lamilion Energy Ltd (NLE)
as a planning and development company for high-performance
manganese lithium-ion batteries.
Subaru Petrol/Electric Hybrid Engine
At NLE, they worked on the development of secondary
batteries for hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and
fuel cell electric vehicles. Their long-life high performance
batteries are good for ten years or approximately 240,000
km. It’s called the NLE lithium-ion battery and its ability
to recharge very quickly attracted attention from Toyota
Motor Corporation which then purchased 8.7 per cent of
FHI’s shares in 2005.
This collaboration with Toyota has seen FHI determine
some new goals to provide customers with alternatives
to petrol-driven engines. Rather than continue their
own hybrid petrol/electric engine development programme
at this point, FHI has elected to adopt Toyota’s hybrid
power train technology for the planned Subaru hybrid
models in the medium to long term.
Subaru R1e - Electric Vehicle
In 2006 Subaru completed a prototype of an
electric
vehicle being jointly developed with Tokyo Electric Power
Co., Inc. (TEPCO) – the Subaru R1e. Based on Subaru’s
Japanese-market-only micro R1 car, the electric version
has a top speed of 100 km/h and utilises thin, high-performance
lithium-ion batteries capable of running approximately
80 km on a single charge. Subaru designed and manufactured
the vehicle and TEPCO developed a high-speed charger.
In 2007 FHI was awarded the Minister of the Environment’s
2006 Commendation for Global Warming Prevention Activity
for its development of the Subaru
R1e electric vehicle in conjunction with Tokyo Electric
Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO) and NEC Lamilion Energy, Ltd.
Another outcome from Toyota taking a shareholding in
FHI has been FHI’s ability to concentrate on developing
their first diesel engine. Subaru
chief
executive Kyoji
Takenaka said: “Because we’re a small company, we had
to choose between hybrid and diesel. Now that we have
this arrangement with Toyota,
diesel engine development
and production are
going to be our priorities.”
Subaru Turbocharged Boxer Diesel Engine
The Legacy will be the first model range to get a diesel
option which should go on sale in Europe towards the
end of 2007 or early 2008. Subaru expects around half
of its European sales to be of diesel models by 2010
and then around a third of all its sales, including,
ultimately, up to 20 per cent of sales in Japan and the
US.
FHI engineers continue to work on improving fuel
efficiency
with the current Subaru models. The current Legacy is
a graphic demonstration of the problems in developing
a new car. To meet the latest safety requirements, Subaru
calculated the car would have to be 130kg heavier than
its predecessor. Instead the new Legacy is on average,
100kg lighter. The new car is stronger thanks to the
use of different materials and construction methods,
which have in total saved about 230kg.
Making vehicles lighter is one way to save fuel, which
can be complemented, by the development of more efficient
motors, reducing the amount of friction in the driveline
and using gearboxes with more gears so the motor will
perform more economically. The change to a single turbocharger,
producing better, yet more economical performance saved
30kg alone in the latest Legacy GT models.
Another fuel efficiency innovation is Subaru intelligent
Drive (SI-DRIVE). The new 2007 Legacy GT, 3.0R and Outback
3.0R models feature the revolutionary technology. Put
simply, it is like having three engines in one car. SI-DRIVE
allows the driver to choose from three different engine
settings from the touch of rotary dial located centre
console – Intelligent (I), Sport (S) or Sport Sharp (S#).
This advanced system, adjusts the computer mapping in
the Engine Control Unit (ECU) whist also regulating the
Transmission Control Unit (TCU) in an effort to either
maximise fuel efficiency or maximise performance depending
upon the mode selected by the driver.
On the fuel-efficient Intelligent (I) mode, the system
selects a more relaxed throttle response. By controlling
throttle angle and response of the Electronic Throttle
Control (ETC) thus maximising planet-friendly fuel efficiency.
Intelligent mode delivers up to 10 per cent improvement
is real world fuel consumption.
To read more about SI-DRIVE
click here. |
