Here, Toyota’s opening up of THS hybrid technology patents in the domestic market is characterized as a “business deal”. The implication is that this matter is not as beautiful as we imagined, but it is not as bad as we imagined. Business must always be mutually beneficial to continue.
But upon closer inspection, we have to sigh for Toyota, as an established multinational car manufacturer, with its mature style of "making decisions before taking action".
▍Layout
Let’s briefly review the opening process of Toyota’s THS patents:
In 2017, Toyota officially announced that the first batch of patents will be opened and can be made available to the outside world. Provide technology and hope to cooperate with other car companies in this regard. I never thought that there would be very few candidates. If Toyota says that our THS hybrid technology is "second in the world", no one in the world would dare to say that its own is "number one in the world." Isn’t this a set of unique “martial arts secrets” that is unparalleled in the world?
In January 2019, Toyota made the matter of patent opening more clear. Toyota claims that it will provide free use rights to approximately 23,740 electrification technology patents including motors, electronic controls, and system controls. These technologies are advanced technologies that Toyota has achieved through more than 20 years of research and development on related models to achieve high performance, miniaturization, and low cost.
Toyota’s “sincerity” finally paid off. At the beginning of 2019, Toyota "sold" THS technology to Corun, Toyota's core parts supplier in China, for "$1". Geely Automobile is the major shareholder of Corun. In other words, Toyota "sold" THS technology to Geely in disguise. As for why Geely wants to "take over" THS technology, we will leave it to the analysis later.
In September 2019, Toyota finally got the desired result. Toyota and GAC Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on electrification and intelligent connectivity. GAC Group's hybrid products using Toyota's THS system will be launched in 2021 at the latest.
In October 2020, the above-mentioned framework agreement was finally implemented. According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the Japanese company BulE Nexus, which develops and supplies gasoline-electric hybrid systems for Toyota, has reached a technology transfer agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group. At the same time, it was learned that Toyota has also transferred THS technology to Geely, FAW, etc., and provided these companies with ready-made THS system hybrid products for assembling hybrid models.
▍Take advantage of the situation
It’s already 2020, and no one from the industry to the media will think that this is Toyota’s “conscience discovery” and that it has traveled across the ocean to China to carry out “technological poverty alleviation” ". Toyota's abacus beads are rattling, and its intention to open patents is "obvious":
First, the technology patent is about to expire. Rather than letting it disappear in time, it is better to take it out and make one Smooth favors. In January 2017, THS patents expired in the United States and Europe. This is the reason why Toyota officially announced in 2017 that it could open up. Even in China, the earliest batch of patent applications will expire in 2023.
Secondly, policies have changed, and the spring of hybrid technology is here. On October 27, under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Society of Automotive Engineers organized more than 1,000 experts from the entire industry to revise and compile the "Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0" which took one and a half years to be officially released in Shanghai. A long-rumored new policy that will affect China's new energy vehicle market for the next 15 years has finally settled.
Toyota is smiling. THS, which has been unpopular with policies before, is finally waiting for the clouds to clear up in the world's largest new energy vehicle market.
The 2.0 version of the technology roadmap classifies plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles as new energy vehicles; it classifies fuel cell vehicles, extended-program hybrid vehicles, and ordinary hybrid vehicles into the category of energy-saving vehicles. . Wang Binggang, leader of the expert group, made it clear: China's traditional cars must fully transform into hybrids. In 2025, new hybrid cars will account for more than 50% of traditional energy passenger cars, and they will reach 100% in 2035.
Obviously, the biggest change in the 2.0 version of the roadmap is the increased weight of the hybrid technology route.
Previously classified as ordinary hybrid vehicles, Toyota products equipped with THS technology have historically entered a circle covered by policies.
▍Self-interest
Then the question is, since HEV has gained attention in the Chinese market, Toyota should cherish its THS technology even more, and within the effective patent barrier time, it can be faster, easier and more cost-effective. The right thing to do is to capture a larger market share, so why choose to give up early?
In fact, although Toyota THS hybrid technology has a profound accumulation and is well-known, it is not truly the best among the others.
At least for now, it seems that GM's Voltec system, Honda's i-MMD system, and even BYD's DM dual-mode plug-in hybrid system have the ability to compete with Toyota's THS. Toyota wins because of its early development time, high market share and high product maturity, but this does not mean complete victory in terms of technical quality.
Therefore, driven by policies, once market enthusiasm is ignited, a large number of OEMs will be deeply involved in the development of HEV, PHEV and other products. The choice of technical route will become an important issue. At this time, if Toyota still adheres to the patent barriers of THS, there is no doubt that the THS technical route will become a minority in the Chinese market in the future.
Being a minority without absolute technological leadership is not a good thing for Toyota. There is always the possibility of being marginalized by the market. Not to mention, Toyota's current HEV products still have a price disadvantage compared to similar fuel vehicles. Without leading the development of pure electric vehicles, Toyota must not lose its share of HEV products in the Chinese market.
After several calculations, Toyota decided to open up the patented technology in advance. But Toyota clearly has a backup plan.
At the beginning, the THS technology that Toyota transferred to Corinth at a price of "1 US dollar" was only version 1.0 of the technology. In fact, Toyota's THS technology has developed to the 4.0 era so far.
At the same time, we should note that in October 2020, the transfer framework agreement between Toyota and GAC was implemented. In addition to patented technology, it also focused on providing hybrid power systems with ready-made THS systems to patented technology recipients. product.
Toyota’s “fox tail” is finally revealed.
Toyota intends to use early THS technology to pave the way and gain a "group" advantage on the technical route. First of all, it ensures that HEVs equipped with THS technology are "popular" products in the Chinese market. But in this process, Toyota itself has always maintained its technological leadership.
If anyone wants to obtain THS technology with the same level as Toyota’s iteration, it is not impossible. Toyota’s off-the-shelf THS system hybrid products are “hot sellers”, just buy them and assemble them into hybrid models. .
▍Altruism
The above is clearly a "business guide" that Toyota has written after careful consideration to ensure profits. But as the beginning of the article says, as long as it is a business, it must be mutually beneficial, otherwise it cannot be established.
Let’s start with the related independent car companies.
The first three car companies related to the transfer of THS technology patents are GAC, FAW, and Geely. In this context, if you find one of the above three nouns that is not in the same category as the other two, the answer must be auspicious.
GAC and FAW control North and South Toyota respectively. In the Chinese market, they are Toyota's "blood brothers". From this level of relationship, whether the two have technical cooperation with Toyota, whether it is patent transfer, or core technology product transactions, it is all a matter of "meat rotting in the pot".
Geely is a different kind. Through the media of Keliyuan, Geely has obtained the THS technology patent, which is not the latest version. No matter how you look at it, it seems that Geely has done it because of its technical shortcomings.
In fact, on the contrary, Geely, like BYD and Great Wall, is at the forefront of the research and development of hybrid technology among independent car companies. Here, Geely has a very deep accumulation.
In 2005, when the second-generation Toyota Prius was just launched, Geely built its first weak hybrid prototype. The new car was based on technologies such as one-way clutch and nickel-metal hydride battery pack, and the motor was Power is transferred to the drive system.
This car has a name - Geely King Kong.
From 2009 to 2012, Geely began to explore the "planetary gear technology" solution, and "planetary gear technology" is the core patent of Toyota's THS hybrid technology. During the research and development process, Geely encountered difficulties. But this problem does not come from technology, but from Toyota patents. In order to bypass Toyota's patent barriers, Geely can only adopt a more complex double-row planetary gear set mechanical structure. At that time, this became a knot in Geely's heart;
In 2012, Geely's new PHEV plug-in hybrid platform was launched, officially named CHS (China Hybrid System), which gave Geely this confidence , thumbs up for the atmospheric name;
In 2016, the Emgrand PHEV, which has been on sale so far, was launched, marking the maturity of Geely's CHS research and development.
Geely cannot become Toyota, but Toyota cannot become Geely either.
Geely, which never sticks to rules, also allocates time and energy to another new hybrid solution, namely P0 and P2.5 hybrid. Geely Borui GE is on the market and has launched two versions of hybrid systems, one is the MHEV micro-hybrid system and the other is the PHEV plug-in hybrid. They are classified according to the position of the electric drive module, namely PO and P2.5.
In 2017, Toyota announced the opening of THS technology patents for the first time. At that time, the market response was mediocre. It’s not that THS is unattractive, it’s actually because the final implementation of patented technology requires a lot of resources, including long-term investment of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. Therefore, the threshold is not low.
But as the "big independent brother", Geely can. In addition to meeting the above basic conditions, the most important thing is that Geely has its own technology accumulation. The earlier Geely obtains Toyota THS's technology patent, the earlier it will be. You can make your CHS more perfect.
As for which generation it is, it actually doesn’t matter. This is Geely's consistent "behavior style", "you can eat it and digest it". The opening of THS technology patents has made Geely's already mature hybrid technology "the icing on the cake."
It is true that both Geely, FAW and GAC will benefit from THS. Independent hybrid vehicles with the same mature technology and more affordable prices than Toyota are about to be launched.
Starting from January 1, 2021, according to the "Measures for the Parallel Management of Passenger Car Enterprise Average Fuel Consumption and New Energy Vehicle Points" issued in June 2020, the regulatory fuel consumption of newly declared domestic vehicle products The assessment working conditions will be switched from NEDC to WLTP. It can be seen from the setting value of pure electric vehicle cruising range that the cruising range under NEDC operating conditions is more theoretical, while WLTP is closer to reality. The same is true for the fuel consumption of fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles.
In the upcoming WLTP test cycle, products equipped with Toyota's THS technology are more fuel-efficient and emission-reducing than many small-displacement supercharged engines that are "test-ready" for NEDC. In the points policy, you can also take advantage of it.
Toyota's THS technology products are "truly environmentally friendly". From this perspective, they are also of positive significance to the development of China's automobile industry.
▍Conclusion
Some people say that Apple can "kill" Nokia, but Tesla will never be able to defeat Toyota. Because from now to the future, Toyota has always been full of vitality.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.