Toyota engineer, helped develop Prius, dies in plane crash off LA

[The Straight Story]

Toyota engineer, helped develop Prius, dies in plane crash off LA

Sunday November 26, 2006
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) A Toyota Motor Corp. executive engineer who was described as the ``American father of the Prius'' and among the country's top experts on gas-electric hybrid vehicles died in a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean, officials said Sunday.

David Hermance, 59, was piloting an experimental plane when it went down around 1:20 p.m. Saturday about 50 yards off of Los Angeles' San Pedro area.

A search team found the wreckage of the two-passenger Interavia E-3 aircraft submerged in 60 feet of water Sunday morning, said county Fire Capt. Mark Savage.

Hermance, a Huntington Beach resident, was executive engineer for Advanced Technology Vehicles at Toyota's technical center in the Los Angeles area, company spokesman Mike Michels said.

There, he was key in developing the gas-electric Prius and bringing it to the American market, where it gained popularity for its fuel efficiency.

http://cbs5.com/californiawire/CA--PriusEngineerDead_k_n_0ca--/resources_news_html

[hlthe2b]

1. Damn..... we sure do lose the "good ones...."

RIP, sir... I sincerely hope you mentored many...

[LeftCoast]

2. I fly regularly in a small plane

I hate hearing stories like this. I'm glad the plane I fly in isn't an experimental though. Ours gets regular maintenance and is flown conservatively which also helps.

This accident sounds like a major mechanical failure based on the description of the crash.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I saw the article in the LAT today........

But I missed the fact that he was key in developing the Prius...

What a waste of a life, to die in his prime......

My husband owns a Prius......and we see them everywhere...

[Old and In the Way]

4. Very sad....what a legacy to leave....

wonder what happened to the plane to cause the crash?

[liberal N proud]

5. Putting on my tin foil hat for a moment - When I see someone like this has an accident...

I always wonder if there is any foul play involved.

Here we have Hermance, who is considered the father of the hybrid car, a vehicle that threatens the oil dominance over the motor vehicle market and his plane crashes.

What remains to be known is the cause of the crash, I suspect that news will never be publicized

[TwentyFive]

9. My thoughts exactly. Either that or Ford/GM decided they wanted to 'send a message.'

Their stock prices are down and Honda/Toyota have Detroit on the ropes. Alas, Henry Ford and his union busting goons killed and maimed 'troublemakers'...so why not do this to a competitor.

Speaking of killing for dollars...remember Enron? Their traders were responsible for several deaths from CA blackouts caused by pulling the plug on power plants. Stop lights went out....people were killed in car crashes. Elderly people couldn't afford to run their A/C in 11 degree heat, at home respirators needed electricity.

[southerncrone]

6. We just keep losing the best ones

I hate to think my paranoia is showing, but perhaps he did too good of a job. We must stay dependent on those oil fields for the neocons to remain in control of our lives! :cry:

[TwentyFive]

7. Am I too cynical if it crosses my mind that big oil or the domestic auto industry did this?

From the story...

"he was key in developing the gas-electric Prius and bringing it to the American market, where it gained popularity for its fuel efficiency....Hermance was perhaps the ``American father of the Prius'' for his tireless work evaluating and promoting it in the U.S., longtime colleague Bill Reinert said...Dave dedicated his life to championing this technology."

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. I'm with you

my cynic side is fully emerging here

[The Straight Story]

10. I just think famous people need to stay away from planes, period :) (nt)

[Renew Deal]

"was piloting an experimental plane"

Get a grip. :tinfoilhat:

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. I kniw, I know

as I said the cynic side, far from the realist...

[TwentyFive]

13. The plane was built in 1993. Why did it take 13 years to crash? Enron killed for far less money.

This 'crash' smells fishy to me.

[DocSavage]

15. Experimental STUNT PLANE

Just do a search on the aircraft and you will find that this was not the first to fall from the sky. The only reason the crash smells fishy is that it happened over water. Get a grip.



http://www.mlive.com/watersedge/index.ssf?stories/20060701muskegonairfair.html

[lithiumbomb]

14. put your tinfoil hats away

He was doing stunts in a light aircraft and crashed, it happens. Toyota won't stop building hybrids as a result... They're a far bigger company than one man.

[bananas]

11. A good photo - "Likes His Job .jpg"

http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1878

Establishing an All-Electric Range Requirement

Published by jcwinnie October 3rd, 2006


David W. Hermance, Executive Engineer for Advanced Technology Vehicles at Toyota Technical Center


Toyota spokesperson, David W. Hermance, has made a qualified, endorsement of plug-in hybrids. He was willing to accept the possibility that they may “offer reduced life cycle CO2 in addition to reduced fuel consumption.” It would depend upon grid mix (a common Toyota theme) and the manufacturing efficiency of the elements of the system. (Zero emissions encompass producing and disposing of the vehicles, as well as operating them.)

Hermance spoke1 at the recent Technology Symposium in Sacramento. The symposium host was CARB (California Air Resources Board) and the topic was ZEVs (Zero Emissions Vehicles). Toyota, the leading manufacturer of standard hybrid electric vehicles wants the ARB to avoid requiring ZEVs to provide an all electric range.

According to Hermance, to realize mass production of cars achieving 100+ MPG and substantial all-electric miles requires “a breakthrough in battery technology …for capacity, energy storage, durability and cost”, stated Hermance. He held to the same contention that he made at a DOE workshop in May: “With today’s best technologies, plug-ins are not commercially viable.”

"It requires much more battery on board, a minimum of four times the battery and sometimes as much as eight or 10 times, depending on how much you’re trying to do. That has mass, volume and cost impact… A battery that lives well in today’s hybrid application will not _necessarily_ live well in this application. Typically, the range of state of charge is 100% to about 20%, which is much more stressful to the battery, and durability becomes a real issue, and if you don’t have a life-of-vehicle battery, that has major implications on life cycle cost of the vehicle technology."

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