Toyota Motor demonstrated innovative engine technologies for several vehicle types, such as hybrid and bi-fuel vehicles, to display its latest advancements in automotive technology.
Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., two domestic allies, joined Toyota’s presentation dubbed as a “multi-pathway workshop.” Both companies are creating environmentally friendly engines meant to fulfil the impending, stricter emissions rules.
Toyota disclosed during a three-hour presentation in a Tokyo hall that it will provide sleek compact engines that can also run on “green fuels” like bioethanol and hydrogen, or they can be combined with electric motors that emit no emissions to create hybrid vehicles.
The car manufacturing company already produces the well-known Prius, a hybrid vehicle that combines an electric and petrol engine. It provides cleaner driving by alternating between the two.
According to Toyota, the new engine will be built to support the electric motor rather than take over as the primary power source in future hybrid vehicles.
This development comes at a time when numerous auto industry rivals are promoting completely electric cars.
China is stepping up its campaign for battery-electric vehicles, and BYD, a company in Japan, looks like it could overtake Tesla in this regard.
Toyota’s Chief Executive Koji Sato said the “engine is optimized for the electrification era” with hopes of helping push the world into “carbon neutrality.”
Newsng understands that the 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre engines that Toyota, the largest carmaker in the world by volume, unveiled are works-in-progress that are significantly smaller than the engines used in current vehicles.
The three companies said that they are committing themselves to strengthening their partnerships with motors, batteries, and other electric drive technologies. At present, Toyota has approximately twenty per cent of its stock in Subaru and approximately five per cent in Mazda.
“With these engines, each of the three companies will aim to optimise integration with motors, batteries, and other electric drive units,” they said in a joint statement.
Toyota’s Chief Technological Officer, Hiroki Nakajima, declined to specify when the new vehicles with the new engines will be manufactured.
We earlier reported that the CEO of Tesla and tech mogul Elon Musk met with Premier Li Qiang, China’s second-ranking official, in Beijing.
According to a media report, Musk intends to transmit data gathered in China to another country to train its algorithms and enable Full Self Driving (FSD) in that nation.
