‘Father of the Prius’ dies in plane crash
The Indian website Daily News & Analysis, is reporting Plane crash kills Mr Hybrid.
David Hermance, 59, died when the single-seat experimental plane he was piloting crashed into the ocean off San Pedro in southern California on Saturday after performing several loops and spins.
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the married father-of-two was an executive engineer for advanced technology vehicles at Toyota’s technical center in the Los Angeles area.
He had a major role in introducing America to such cars as the Prius, which runs on a combination of gasoline and batteries, according to the newspaper.
“His job was to take the technology developed in Japan and bring it to the United States,” colleague Bill Reinert told the Times.
“He was the American father of the Prius.”
While in the UK recently I got to ride in a Prius, courtesy of the UK Taxi company Green Tomato Cars What impressed me about the car was how quiet it is. Normal cars start with a rev, getting truly terrible fuel economy rates from zero to 10 kph. In contrast the Prius starts up almost silently and the petrol engine doesn’t kick in until the car is moving. RIP Mr Hermance, our thoughts are with your family. — DS
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