Here a quick look at the 2013 Toyota 86 Body Structure. The 86 is sold under three different brands associated with its creators, Toyota and Subaru. Toyota (Toyota 86 in Japan, South Africa and Australia and Toyota GT86 in Europe and both names in New Zealand), Subaru (Subaru BRZ) and Scion (Scion FR-S for the United States and Canada). We covered the 2013 Subaru BRZ here.
There is really nothing too crazy with the body structure of the 2013 Toyota Corolla. There is some Ultra-High Strength Steel in the A-Pillar (A-Post) and in the doors. Based on the picture below if you are making a relief cut or just cutting the A-Pillar for a roof removal if your older cutters stall out. Just move your tool high up the A-Pillar to get post the reinforcement. Always remember to pull away the interior trim pieces to check for stored gas inflators.
Looking at the pictures, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? I hope one quick thought will make a light go one!
New Jersey highway officials say two cars were involved in an accident at a Garden State Parkway toll plaza that resulted in a car hitting a toll booth and bursting into flames. State Police Sgt. Brian Polite says a Toyota Prius driven by 86-year-old Ralph Schiller of Fort Lee was approaching the Bergen Toll Plaza in Saddle Brook around 3:30 p.m., when it side-swiped a Honda Accord driven by Kristie Frost of Pasadena, Md. Police say Schiller’s car continued forward and struck a barrier and a toll booth, and the booth and car both caught fire.
Below are a few key instructions from the Toyota Prius Hybrid Emergency Response Guide:
Normally, flooding an NiMH HV battery pack with copious amounts of water at a safe distance will effectively control the HV battery pack fire by cooling the adjacent NiMH battery modules to a point below their ignition temperature. The remaining modules on fire, if not extinguished by the water, will burn themselves out. However, flooding the PRIUS c HV battery pack is not recommended due to the battery case design and location preventing the responder from properly applying water through the available vent openings safely. Therefore, it is recommended that the incident commander allow the PRIUS c HV battery pack to burn itself out.
If the decision has been made to fight the fire using a defensive attack, the fire attack crew should pull back a safe distance and allow the NiMH battery modules to burn them selves out. During this defensive operation, fire crews may utilize a water stream or fog pattern to protect exposures or to control the path of smoke.
When allowed to burn themselves out, the PRIUS c NiMH battery modules burn rapidly and can quickly be reduced to ashes except for the metal.
Nearly every Emergency Response Guide that the automakers published is available for download on our Emergency Response Guides/ page.
So just how many plug-in electric cars are expected to be sold in the U.S. in 2012? (This doesn’t include hybrid vehicle) Last year in the U.S., just under 18,000 electric plug-in cars were sold. Halfway through 2012, here are the projections for the whole year:
| Chevrolet: | 20,000 |
| Nissan: | 15,000 |
| Toyota: | 14,600 |
| Ford: | 3,000 |
| Tesla: | 5,000 |
| BMW: | 700 |
| Mitsubishi: | 1,000 |
| Coda: | 1,000 |
| Honda: | 1,100 |
| Fisker: | 1,000 |
| TOTAL: | 62,400 |
That would easily more than triple the 2011 sales level, but still constitute just under half of 1% of the total U.S. car market in 2012. It would take 140,000 electric plug-in vehicles to make 1% 0f the 2012 U.S. car market. Check out the article on TheStreet.com; 2012 Electric Car Sales Forecast that breaks down the different models per automaker. You can also look at Top 10 Electric Car Makers on CleanFleetReport.com.
If you include hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles the number of vehicles sold increase!
Leave it up to the automakers to have new names for the different types of Hybrid and electric vehicles.
Keep in mind that the hybrid and electric vehicle market closely follows gas prices. When gas prices fall, so do the sales of hybrid and electric vehicles. This demonstrates that while there is consumer interest in hybrid and electric vehicles, demand is heavily influenced by the economic environment, rather than pure interest in the technology. Hybrid and electric vehicle sales are expected to account for 3.2 percent of total light-vehicle in 2012.
First look at the 2013 Toyota Yaris Hybrid.
Avalon’s body structure is strengthened to help meet the latest side impact standards, accounting for higher-riding vehicles such as SUVs. In the event of collision, reinforced members, pillars, panels and doors absorb impact energy, then distribute it around and away from the passenger cabin for enhanced impact protection.
Avalon’s Dual-stage Front Airbags are designed to deploy with the most appropriate amount of force – lower and less forceful in the event of a moderate collision; higher energy level for more severe impacts. Front Seat-mounted Side Airbags, built into the seat and not the door pillar for enhanced protection, have been designed to provide a greater coverage area. In addition, standard front and rear Side-curtain Airbags help provide protection for all passengers in side impacts. Avalon also features a driver’s knee airbag as standard equipment.
Notice where the side airbag inflator is located?
Toyota used the image below to simply explain how an impact absorbing body and a high strength cabin protects occupants. Just remember, the toughest still will be in the cabin area but can extend into the impact absorbing area too. Never assume your cutters cannot cut any part of the vehicle, if your cutters stall, go to plan b. Plan B can be as simple as repositioning the tool.
In order to help reduce the impact on the occupants during a collision and reduce cabin deformation, crumple zones at the front and rear of the vehicle absorb the impact with high efficiency. The cabin uses a body structure that is strong and does not deform easily. To help protect occupants during side collisions, where little crumple zone is available, a high-strength body frame, including the center pillar and the floor cross member, absorbs the impact with decreased deformation.
The current Toyota FJ Cruiser (2007-present) has some very large roof airbag gas inflator. Take a look at the images below and let me know what you think. The size of the roof airbag inflators makes me what to reach out to some friends at Toyota and get so information on the volume and PSI on the inflators. Stay tuned!
The screenshot below is from Moditech’s Crash Recovery System. If you haven’t liked Moditech’s Facebook Page you are missing out on some great information that they post on there! Make sure you like the Boron Extrication Facebook page too!
The emergency Response Guides (ERG) that the auto makers are getting more detailed and starting to include extrication recommendations. The 2012 Toyota Prius ERG contains a recommended process to remove the roof when the side airbags are not deployed. A total roof removal is not recommended when the side airbags are not deployed. Toyota provides an image in the ERG to show where you should cut the roof. The roof center section inboard of the roof rails should be cut from front to rear. Make sure you remove all glass including all windows to ensure all broken glass is controlled and the patient is protected. Toyota states that the area highlighted inside of the roof rails in from store gas inflators and other hazards, but also peel away the trim panels to verify for yourself.
Cutting inside of the roof rails is a quick effective way to get access to the patient. A fast cutting method is to use a metal cutting circular saw. The Prius V has an optional transparent dark gray polycarbonate roof panel. Now I have never cut a polycarbonate roof panel, but its’ just a glorified piece of plastic so a metal cutting saw should work fine. One important note about using a metal cutting circular saw, once you start your cut watch for the pressure from the pillars pushing the roof rails toward the center of the vehicle. If you don’t follow me, let me switch materials. Imagine you are cutting a piece of plywood and halfway thru the saw blade gets stuck.
The solar panel generates a nominal 60 watts of electricity but does not produce high voltage. The maximum output possible is 27 volts and maximum current of 3.6 Amps. This is under optimal conditions.
Voltage is generated when the solar panel is exposed to sunlight the output wire maybe energized even after the vehicle is shut off and the 12 volt auxiliary battery is disconnected. Current will only flow if the solar ventilation blower fan circuit is turned on.
The solar panel is located on the roof above the rear passenger space above. The solar panel output wire is not electrically connected to the 12 volt auxiliary battery, SRS airbags, or the High Voltage battery pack. The solar panel output will not back feed power to these circuits.
Breaking or cutting the solar panel is generally not a hazard except for injury that may occur from material fragments.
The Solar Panel Ventilation System only powers the fan but the Remote Air Conditioning System activates the A/C compressor is powered by the high voltage system. This is important to remember. However, the Remote Air Conditioning System only operates for 3 minutes and then the high voltage battery cables are de-energized because the high voltage flow from the HV battery pack stops.
For more information read pages 13 & 14 in the 2010 Toyota Prius (3rd generation) Emergency Response Guide.
UPDATE May 22, 2012 – Check out Brock Archer’s post on the Scion IQ Eleven Airbags, it now has 11 airbags!
Scion is a Toyota brand and the Scion iQ is based off the Toyota iQ, so consider them one in the same. The 2011 Toyota iQ and Scion iQ is a tiny car that is packed with Ultra-High Strength Steel. However, the thing that scares me about this car are the nine, count them, 9 airbags. That means 9 cylinders stuffed into hidden areas of the body structure behind the trim panels.
The rear air bag is ejected from the headliner during a fender bender. Toyota says it will help protect the heads and necks back seat passengers. So there is a good chance that the rear air bag will be deployed by the time that first responders arrive. Just remember to always strip away the trim to find the gas filled cylinders. Ron Moore posted on the University of Extrication forum that “inflators now have a stored gas pressure of up to 10,000psi”. Take the time to find the cylinders or at least make sure your cutting thru one. As cars like the iQ hit the market, airbag cylinders are going to show up more often.
I was looking around for a image of the inflators and I ran into an article by Dave Dalrymple that he wrote for Fire Engineering, New Vehicle Technology and New Extrication Challenges.
The curtain’s inflation module is inside the air bag itself and located in the rear roof edge between the rear head rests. As for the rest of the nine systems, count them from the crash recovery system diagram (photo 8). So it’s not just high-end vehicles that have a wide spectrum of SRS systems. Although this vehicle is not yet for sale, look for it in 2010, possibly as the Scion IQ.
The third generation 2010 Prius continues to showcase true innovation by reducing body weight while maintaining strength and stability. Expanding the use of High-Strength Steel (HSS) and Ultra High-Strength Steel (UHSS), the Prius achieves an incredible balance between weight and resistance. Weight is reduced by using aluminum in the hood, rear hatch, front suspension axle and brake caliper along with UHSS in the rocker inner, center pillar and roof reinforcement. Strength and stability are enhanced with the use of UHSS (with a remarkable 980 Megapascal [MPa] strength rating for occupant cabin reinforcement) in nearly 80% of the rocker panel reinforcement. In order to repair a Prius to its preloss condition, it’s vital for technicians to understand the properties of UHSS and aluminum and when the different types of steel should be repaired or replaced.
Toyota and Lexus developed Emergency Response Guides (ERG’s) for the vehicles that presented new challenges for Firefighters and other First Responders. These guides are deisgned to educate Firefighters and First Responders how to safely handle Toyota and Lexus Alternative Fuel Vehicles. These vehicles include the following technologies CNG Gas, Hydrogen Gas, or High Voltage electrical systems.
The ERG’s cover emergency response procedures in the following specific areas:
Toyota has used Ultra-high Strength Steel sparingly (UHSS) on the 2009 Matrix. No Boron either! Take a look at the body structure below and you can see the only UHSS is in the A-Pillar and the Side Impact Door Beams.
Toyota has opened their design book and published a site that lists in detail information for rescuers to learn about their Hybrid and alternative fuel models. The information included contains:
Please take the time to read through the different models that Toyota has included.
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