Closer to home, in the big stream of new energy, Toyota's character still maintains the Japanese tonality-especially love to get stuck in a dead end and come to an end in one direction. For example, Nissan took seven years to produce VC-T variable compression ratio, Honda produced 1.5T engine oil, and Mazda produced HCCI gasoline for compression ignition.
On the other hand, shouldn't Mazda be a rotary engine?
Because of the tonality of Japanese cars, Toyota, under the leadership of Akio Toyoda, gambled in two directions: FCV fuel cells and all-solid-state batteries. What is the intuitive product? Mirai not only invested in the upstream and downstream industrial chain of fuel cells, but also built hydrogen refueling stations, trying to solve the problems of hydrogen industrial manufacturing and transportation.
There seems to be a feeling: hello, I will be very cute in the future, please give me money.
Cute is cute, but this is actually not the first time Toyota has embarked on a pure electrification project. As early as the 1970s, Toyota began to study electrification technology, and launched EV- 10 at 1983, EV-20 at 1985 and EV-30 at 1987. After entering the 1990 s, Fan? EV( 1993) and RAV4? EV( 1997)。
Moreover, Toyota is well aware of the three core technologies of electric vehicles: battery, motor and power control unit (PCU).
Unfortunately, the policy came too fast, and the progress of the underlying technology, even if Toyota promises to make a breakthrough in solid-state batteries before 2030, it will cost 654.38+0.3 billion US dollars; Look at the time now, there are still 10 years from 2030. The domestic policy of double points+fuel consumption limit is driving manufacturers crazy. Toyota is suffering from its own EV car. It can only borrow an ix4 from GAC, even without changing the logo and shell. It is labeled as "GAC Toyota" on its ass and sold directly in 4S stores.
Well-known C-HR pure electricity and Yize EV, etc. You should know with your knees that this is a product that hastily changed from oil to electricity, and Toyota is reluctant to launch it, including Lexus UX300e of course, which is obviously caused by policy allergy.
The reason why Toyota got this disease is that Toyota got along so well in the mixed times that it formed a natural technical barrier to other manufacturers. However, there is one thing to say. In my opinion, Toyota's hybrid technology is better than pure electricity. I don't know how many times. This is my opinion, and of course I don't accept any refutation.
Secondly, as mentioned above, Toyota is very ambitious, so they spend time smashing solid-state batteries. It has been 10 years since 20 10. What is a solid-state battery? Simple and clear analogy with steamed stuffed bun, lithium battery is thick-skinned and thin-stuffed, and solid state is thin-skinned and thick-stuffed, which is one-third lighter than lithium battery under the same capacity.
Weight is the symbol of life extension of pure trams. If equal capacity can make the battery lighter, then this operation is in line with Toyota's big move. However, the development of this solid-state battery technology is very slow. Originally, Toyota planned to cook this dish in 2030, just to sell gasoline cars for a few more years, and then fully promote electric vehicles when solid-state batteries are commercialized.
But two things exceeded Toyota's expectations. First, the traditional lithium battery with electrolyte is also improving! At present, the highest energy density of the battery can reach 300Wh/kg, but it should be noted that this density is only the theoretical value in the laboratory, and there is no breakthrough in basic science. Second, the country has taken extended-range electric vehicles as new energy vehicles. The whole world has turned on the green light of electric vehicles, and Toyota is becoming more and more unable to sit still, so it will make a big move-e-TNGA.
Everyone is familiar with TNGA and Toyota's global architecture concept, and e-TNGA is a platform under this architecture, so it is easy to understand that this platform is the foreshadowing before the formation of the ideal country and made some money by the way. However, it should be noted that this e-TNGA platform is very different from the previous Toyota hybrid. This platform was jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, and cooperated with domestic and foreign power battery giants such as Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., BYD and Jieshi Tang Qian to accelerate the research and development of pure electric vehicles under Toyota.
Why did Toyota do this? Looking back at the era of hybrid oil and electricity, Toyota applied for many patents, and it was a monopoly.
Now Toyota finally understands that it is difficult for a monopoly to promote the development of the whole industry. Toyota can be said to have created the hybrid era of oil and electricity, and at the same time, with the arrival of the pure electric era, it has seen the gradual end of this era.
It can be seen that Toyota has high hopes for the e-TNGA platform. This platform from high hopes has three characteristics, which are introduced in detail.
The first feature that can be changed on the platform is the wheelbase, body width and front and rear suspension length. Through the changes of these three dimensions, coverage can actually be achieved? Different types of pure electric vehicles, such as SUV, MPV and car, are flexible, convenient and economical to produce, which is in line with Toyota's corporate characteristics.
The second feature is that Toyota let Subaru and Suzuki cooperate in research and development. The biggest advantage of this is that it can reduce costs and promote the platform quickly. After enjoying the models of various brands, it can also promote the rapid development of a series of supply chain manufacturers.
The third feature is that Toyota cooperates with Amperex Technology, Limited and BYD to develop batteries in order to promote the e-TNGA platform, which is different from that of the public? MEB？ The practice of the platform is very different. The public's ambition is much greater. It has acquired Guo Xuan Hi-Tech and wants to control the upstream market of pure electric vehicles.
Judging from these three characteristics, e-TNGA is an exclusive electric platform prepared to reduce costs and spread the market, which is to make money. It is understood that the first model of the platform is a medium-sized SUV, jointly built with Subaru, which means that this car hangs Subaru's logo and is expected to be released on 202 1. Suzuki will not pull down, develop compact cars, just look at the brand. The chance that these cars will appear in China is very small, almost equal to zero, but it does not rule out that Toyota will change its production standard, which is probably the case.
In the full roll-out of Volkswagen ID series, Tesla and BBA pure electricity, the pressure of manufacturing industry on Toyota is indeed not small. Although Toyota has chosen some difficult technical barriers, it still has to bow its head and show weakness in front of the market and policies.
As the old saying goes, the future is related to mistakes and it is tortuous. Or you can't accept pure electric cars (including myself), so try to buy a fuel-efficient car in your lifetime. Don't wait for your children to ask you later: Dad, have you ever driven a six-cylinder car? What kind of experience is that? You wash your face with tears. ...
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.