Hybrid Synergy Drive
Hybrid vehicle systems, whereby power is derived from both a conventional hydrocarbon powered engine, and an electric motor drawing power from a battery pack charged by energy recovered by advanced vehicle technologies, is a core Toyota technology. The proprietary name for this system as employed by Toyota as the global leader in this field is “Hybrid Synergy Drive”
At a time when the world is focused on the high cost of energy, a reduction in the use of hydrocarbon fuels, and reduced emissions the Toyota’s “Hybrid Synergy Drive” is in effective use in over 1,5 million vehicles world-wide.
Toyota displayed the technology behind this energy conserving system at the Johannesburg International Motor Show by means of a simulator that fully illustrates the various modes of operation of the system.
Through the global deployment of “Hybrid Synergy Drive” Toyota has met the following goals:
- World-beating fuel consumption and emissions in everyday vehicle use.
- A global application of a range of ecological friendly vehicles.
- An ongoing commitment to minimal environmental impact throughout lifecycle of its vehicles.
By way of example, the Toyota Prius is capable of a fuel consumption that is comparable to a number of small capacity diesel powered vehicles. Production of CO2 and NOX are also radically lowered, while particulate emissions are non-existent.
The fuel consumption of the Prius beats regular petrol engined ‘B’-segment cars on the market by a large margin. To top this, the Prius, a larger ‘D’ segment car, can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in less than 11 seconds.
The Prius largely surpasses EURO IV emission targets. Hydrocarbons and emissions are 88,8% lower than required by EURO IV regulations for petrol engines and 93% below diesel-specific EURO IV regulations for these emissions.
The Prius, the world’s largest selling hybrid by far fully demonstrates the practical application of Toyota’s “Hybrid Synergy Drive” technology.
