Exploring the endless potential, aiming to further develop and disseminate Hybrid Vehicles

It holds endless potential that extends to the following generations, far into the future. Our goal is to take hybrid technology to the next phase of its evolutionary progress and to disseminate it throughout the world.

Hybrid technology’s potential is becoming clearer by the day. Toyota does not regard hybrid technology as simply a steppingstone to the age of fuel cell vehicles. The company sees it as the core technology that will become dominant in the eco-car market and eventually evolve to form the basis of what we call the “ultimate eco-car.”

Toyota has a long history of continuous improvement when it comes to conventional engines, including lean burn petrol engines, direct-injection petrol engines, and common rail direct-injection diesel engines, as well as engines modified to use alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) or electricity (EV). In December 2002 the company began the limited sale of the Toyota FCHV, a Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle that runs on high-pressure hydrogen.

Toyota concedes that its engineers may disagree about which fuel or car propulsion system is best. But they do agree that hybrid technology is the core for eco-car development.

Toyota develops key eco-technologies in-house to reduce costs and rapidly commercialise its applications.

One of the yardsticks used to assess the environmental cost of a future technological scenario is the well-to-wheel efficiency. This expresses the overall efficiency of an energy source, from extraction to when it turns a vehicle’s wheels.

Well-to-wheel calculations (see chart) illustrate that, regardless of power source, Toyota’s hybrid technologies increase efficiency substantially.

A Strategy For Life

Hybrid technology is a rediscovery of an energy strategy that living things depend on. Humans and other animals store energy temporarily so that they can access it quickly when needed.

Like our metabolic system, Toyota’s hybrid technology saves fuel by storing energy and adjusting intelligently to each situation.

A high performance battery stores energy that is ordinarily wasted while driving or stopping, and applies the stored energy when starting and to supplement engine power when accelerating. Since the system recharges itself, it never needs to be plugged in to charge.

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