Some photos of the Camry hybrid cut-away model, engines and a stack of J.D. Power's awards:





The plant photographer took a group shot and once I get it, I'll post it too. We had a 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Prius show up but a rainy day, we didn't have much time to 'get into' our vehicles. But the factory tour was awesome!

They start with rolls of steel, a steady stream of parts and 20 hours later, out pops a Camry, Solara or Avelon, rolling out one every 55 seconds. About 70% of the parts come from the US, Mexico and Canada and the rest from Japan. With safety and quality, it was the most amazing choreography of man and machine imaginable. The plant tour was well worth it.

The plant has zero landfill foot-print. They recycle all of the food wastes and paper into mulch used on the grounds. All manufacturing scrap is recycled too. The even use catch water from an on-site pond for some of their processes. A very efficient and environmentally responsible plant, small wonder that this was one aspect attacked by the anti-hybrid crowd.

Lesson's learned:

(1) Scheduling with holiday - works. Columbus Day in early October might be a better date to avoid winter storms.
(2) Ask for "Georgetown fliers" - the visitor center staff have a collection of housing, maps and other data about the area. Ask and see if they will send a set to get housing closer to the plant
(3) Lunch buffet assembly - didn't quite work. Instead, meet at the visitor center an hour or two earlier and greet everyone.

Bob Wilson

 

Bob - Thank you for posting the pictures.. ANy chance of getting those in an email in Hi-resolution??

 

Here is another source:

http://priuschat.com/index.php?s=&sh...dpost&p=376144

Bob Wilson

 

Hi folks,

I've posted a web page with a group photo. However, I didn't get all of the names matched to the faces. If folks will PM with corrections, I'll update the page:

http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/pri_tour.html

Thanks again for all who made it that cold and wet day.

Bob Wilson