Toyota presents flexible-fuel hybrid vehicle prototype at Investe SP
It’s the world’s first vehicle equipped with an electric motor and a combustion engine
Investe São Paulo
Toyota was the very first project supported by Investe SP by the time of its creation
On Monday, March 19, 2018, at the headquarters of Investe São Paulo, Toyota presented the first prototype of a hybrid vehicle equipped with a flexible-fuel internal combustion engine. The project, which combines an electrical powertrain and a gasoline-ethanol flex-fuel engine, put the engineering teams of Toyota Motor Corporation, in Japan, and Toyota do Brasil side by side to join forces and find a synchronicity between the technologies.
Their efforts focused on extracting the maximum potential from each solution: high energy efficiency, low emission levels and CO2 reabsorption capacity, by using fuel derived from 100% renewable source. The prototype was built on the Prius platform, used as the base model for conducting the works. The brand is still studying possibilities of producing this technology in Brazil in the future.
“We have always been partners of Toyota in the dialogue with various government agencies that foster development in the state of São Paulo. Our relationship began with the plant in Sorocaba, when the company brought the first project of the agency’s portfolio. It is an honor to work with the company in this innovation,” says the Business Director of Investe São Paulo, Sérgio Costa.
The prototype of the first hybrid flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) is part of Toyota’s efforts to achieve the ambitious environmental goals set out in its “Environmental Challenge 2050”. In addition, it illustrates the brand’s ambition to produce ever better cars in order to collaborate with the reduction of environmental impacts caused by automobiles as close as possible to zero emissions.
“I am very proud of our Toyota do Brasil engineers who worked closely with our engineers in Japan to develop the world's cleanest hybrid vehicle that uses ethanol for our Brazilian customers. The invention demonstrates our journey in providing a new mobility society,” said Steve St. Angelo, CEO of Toyota Latin America Region and Caribbean, as well as Chairman of Toyota do Brasil, Argentina and Venezuela.
Preliminary studies conducted by Toyota do Brasil indicate that hybrid FFV has one of the highest compensation and reabsorption potentials in CO2 emissions starting with the extraction of ethanol from sugarcane, through its distribution at the fuel pumps to the ignition in the combustion process of the car. If fueled only by ethanol (E100), the results are even more promising.
From design to prototype
To come up with the first prototype, Toyota conducted several laboratory-scale tests, which began almost three years ago, in mid-2015. At a ceremony held today, with the presence of representatives of the state government of São Paulo and partners, the company began the driving test phase. Thus, at the end of the event, the prototype left on a trip to Brasilia, where it will be presented to members of the Federal Government.
Earlier, the hybrid was also taken to Palácio dos Bandeirantes, where St. Angelo and other Toyota executives met with Governor Geraldo Alckmin.
At first, the vehicle will travel a stretch of more than 1,500 kilometers between the states of São Paulo and Distrito Federal, testing the durability of the car in routes of this kind, to evaluate the powertrain, when fueled with ethanol, in the Brazilian roads.
Then, new data will be collected. They will inform the performance of the car for possible adjustments, aiming at finding the ideal balance of the whole powertrain.
“More than a milestone in our 60-year history in Brazil, this prototype is the starting point for our next 60 years. Toyota believes that the hybrid FFV, when produced on a commercial scale, will allow the beginning of a new period of technical improvement of the entire automotive chain,” said Rafael Chang, president of Toyota Brazil.
Partnership for technological dissemination
Part of Toyota’s efforts in the race to meet its “Environmental Challenge 2050” is especially driven by the need to engage and mobilize business partners who operate in line with the vision for sustainable mobility.
Inspired by this purpose, the Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) has supported the project, recognizing ethanol as an efficient fuel in advanced propulsion systems and emphasizing the importance of the biofuel in the fight against global warming and in the fulfillment of environmental goals in Brazil in the International Climate Agreement (Cop21), established in 2015, in Paris, relying on the production and supply capacity of the Brazilian sugar and ethanol industry.
The entity reinforces that ethanol is increasingly present in global environmental discussions aimed at transport decarbonization. “We understand that we are in the process of transition to new scenarios of sustainable mobility and ethanol is a part of them. In this sense, we believe that innovative technologies, such as the hybrid vehicle, can be part of this transition, coexisting with biofuels, especially in Brazil, where the consumer has a wide supply infrastructure,” said Elizabeth Farina, president of UNICA.
Toyota marks 60 years in Brazil
The year 2018 is very special for Toyota do Brasil, as it marks the company’s 60th anniversary.
Along this trajectory, the company has actively participated in the Brazilian industrial and economic development and is proud of the large investments made in its local operation, always thinking about the sustainable growth of its business and contributing to the development of Brazilian society.
Toyota plans to celebrate these 60 years in Brazil based on the theme “Reinventing the Future”. This year, the brand is working on major projects, such as the beginning of the studies for the hybrid FFV prototype, the launch of Yaris, a model that will fit between Etios and Corolla in the company’s portfolio in Brazil, with sales expected to begin in second half of 2018 and much more.
From 1958 to date, the Japanese brand has worked tirelessly to offer increasingly better cars to Brazilians. Currently, there are four factories in the cities of Indaiatuba, Sorocaba, Porto Feliz and São Bernardo do Campo, which also houses an Applied Research Center and a Design Center. In addition, it has three vehicle distribution centers, in Guaíba (RS), Vitória (ES) and Suape (PE), a distribution center of parts in Votorantim (SP), a representation office in Brasília (DF) and over 6,000 employees.
About Toyota
Toyota do Brasil Ltda. has four manufacturing units: in Indaiatuba (SP), São Bernardo do Campo (SP), Sorocaba (SP) and Porto Feliz (SP), three vehicle distribution centers, in Guaíba (RS) and Vitória (ES) and Suape (PE), a distribution center of parts in Votorantim (SP), a representation office in Brasília (DF) and over 6,000 employees. Founded in 1937, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is one of the most representative manufacturers of passenger and commercial vehicles in the world. With production in 28 countries and regions and sales in over 160 countries, the company is owner of the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. Toyota holds shares in the Stock Exchanges of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo (Japan), New York (USA) and London (UK) and currently employs more than 325,000 employees worldwide. More information is available at www.toyota.co.jp and www.toyota.com.br or www.facebook.com.br/toyotadobrasil