Toyota pursues petrol but sees electric potential in new
technology
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[February 26, 2018]
By Naomi Tajitsu
TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp
<7203.T> stuck to its commitment to improving petrol engines on Monday
with new powertrain units, while flagging technologies which could find
their way into electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).
The Japanese automaker plans to keep refining its petrol engines and the
hybrid technology it pioneered two decades ago while also developing
battery operated cars as tightening global emissions rules drive a race
for longer-range affordable EVs.
As high battery prices and range limitations restrain EV take-up,
hybrids and plug-in hybrids would be dominant in coming years, Mitsumasa
Yamagata, chief engineer at Toyota's power train product planning
division, said.
Cars using petrol engines in some form would still account for around 90
percent of all vehicles by 2030, he added.
"Developing the most fuel-efficient powertrains using petrol engines and
hybrid systems will be the best way to have an impact (on reducing
emissions), and we remain committed to this," he said at a briefing on
Toyota's new 2.0 liter petrol engine and hybrid systems, which can
improve fuel economy by 18 percent and 9 percent, respectively, over its
current systems.
"At the same time, we will be able to use the technology developed for
these powertrains in EVs and FCVs."
Already lagging Nissan Motor Co <7201.T>, General Motors <GM.N> and BMW
<BMWG.DE> in bringing a mass-production EV to market, Toyota has ramped
up its EV development in the last year or so, pledging to add more than
10 EV models to its product line-up in the early 2020s after long
touting a green-car strategy focusing mainly on hybrids and FCVs.
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A model of Toyota Motor Corp's new Direct Shift-CVT is seen at
Toyota's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, February 26, 2018.
REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Last week it announced it had developed ultra-powerful magnets containing fewer
rare earth metals which can be used in EVs, while it has also partnered up with
Panasonic Corp <6752.T> to develop EV batteries.
Yamagata said that components for petrol vehicles could also be used in EVs,
including a new "launch" gear used in Toyota's continuously variable
transmission unveiled on Monday which works with a smaller belt drive to enable
smoother, more efficient initial acceleration and final deceleration.
Industry experts anticipate that take-up of EVs will pick up faster than Toyota
expects as decreasing battery costs result in a cost parity between EVs and
gasoline-engine cars around 2025, but some say that it could leverage its lead
in hybrid technology to help stay competitive during this transition.
"Toyota has been developing its hybrid technology since the 1990s and has been
improving it all along. This is complex technology which would take a lot of
effort (for others) to develop originally," CLSA analyst Chris Richter said.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; editing by Alexander Smith)
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