1990 the third oil crisis forced people's concept of car use to change gradually. 1992, 1 year, Toyota issued the "Toyota Earth Environment Charter", which is the general program formulated by Toyota Motor Corporation on the basic principles, codes of action and participation system of participating in environmental protection. The purpose is to effectively solve the increasingly serious problems of environmental pollution and energy shortage. Toyota intends to change people's dependence on traditional gasoline engine models. 1993, Toyota started the project with the code name G2 1, which started the hybrid Prius. Developing the four-generation hybrid Prius is Toyota's actual presentation of the contents of the Charter.
Toyota has accumulated 27 years of experience in the research and development of hybrid vehicles. Because of "rushing", it now has enough capital to "walk around" and patiently find the next development direction. Toyota has a mature and rich electric technology reserve. By combining the existing motors, engines, electronic control systems and batteries, an HEV, PHEV or EV model can be born. Of course, Toyota also has FCEV (Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle) models that have been put on the market. Engineers of GAC Toyota once said that Toyota walks on four legs.
The same PHEV and EV models are more expensive than fuel vehicles. As we all know, batteries are the main reason for the high cost of EV models. In addition, the battery quality is inversely proportional to the energy conversion efficiency in the unit battery, which also relates to the endurance of EV models.
C-HR？ EV inherits the advantages of fuel version, but also has the characteristics of electric vehicle. This is a very mature product. The high-capacity Ni-Co-Mn ternary lithium ion battery newly developed by Panasonic is adopted. The subsidy price of this car is 225,800-249,800 yuan, and its top version is nearly 70,000 yuan more expensive than the top version of the fuel version, and the 400km NEDC cruising range has no advantage compared with many self-owned brand EV models. Obviously, C-HR? EV obviously runs counter to the intimate price and high cost performance of Toyota family cars.
As a sub-market of passenger car market, the sales volume of new energy vehicles is greatly affected by policies, and most consumers are concentrated in first-tier cities. The main motivation of car owners is to get a license plate that can enjoy the new energy policy. It should be pointed out that at present, it is only the beginning of the new energy market demand, and the market vitality has not been fully released.
Although it is not a good time for Toyota to launch a large number of pure electric vehicles in China, it is a good opportunity for Toyota to make money by technology.
As early as 20 19, Toyota Motor Corporation announced that it would provide Toyota's patents (including projects under application) on vehicle electrification technologies such as motors and electronic control systems for free, and the number of patents reached 23,740. But these patented technologies are not completely open for use, but provide free patent use rights. Car companies should apply to Toyota when using it, and then discuss the specific implementation conditions.
For car companies, getting technical support does not mean that a car can be built. The later vehicle adjustment is also a key link. Toyota charges for this part of technical support. It's like you got the answer to a problem, but the teacher wants to teach you the methods and skills to solve it. In addition, Toyota can sell parts and molds to patent users at a lower price than other car companies, and there are other more profitable ways. Car companies seem to have obtained the right to use patents, but this is not a "free lunch."
Now we have been emphasizing "user habits" to enhance user stickiness and establish a stable user base. Toyota's open patent technology can not only form an alliance with other enterprises, but also make them form technical dependence. At the same time, these pure electric vehicles with Toyota technology will also let the owners have psychological construction for the future Toyota pure electric vehicles.
It seems that Toyota has not officially penetrated into the domestic pure electric vehicle market, but it has found another way to make profits and has launched the future market layout.
Recently, it has been revealed that the solid-state battery, the core component of Toyota's next-generation electric vehicle, may be unveiled during the Tokyo Olympic Games, and the bus e-Palette, which is planned to be put into operation during the Olympic Games, will be equipped with solid-state batteries. Solid-state batteries are regarded as an important part of automobile electrification transformation by the industry. The battery is not easily affected by extreme temperature, and its energy density is 2-3 times that of the current lithium-ion battery. Solid-state batteries are lighter in weight, longer in life and safer. The charging speed of Toyota solid-state battery prototype is much faster than that of current lithium-ion battery, and it only takes 15 minutes from zero to full. However, the durability and safety of solid-state batteries still need to be further improved.
According to Guisi, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Powertrain Company and general manager of battery industry? Keita said, "Toyota hopes to mass-produce solid-state batteries by 2025." In the early stage of development, due to the limited scale, the price of solid-state batteries will be higher than that of lithium-ion batteries. In the future, if solid-state batteries compete with traditional internal combustion engines, the cost will be much lower than 100 USD/kWh. Toyota hopes that this battery can still maintain more than 90% of its initial performance after more than 30 years of use.
If the solid-state battery can meet the design standard of Toyota and the cost is effectively controlled, then Toyota pure electric vehicle can continue the price and economy of Toyota gasoline vehicle. It is expected that Toyota will launch a large number of pure electric vehicles by then.
In addition to pure electric vehicles, Toyota also found another form of energy, FCEV hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen can be changed into water through chemical reaction, which is a real "zero emission". Toyota's first hydrogen fuel cell car, Mirai's second-generation model, has been unveiled before.
The safety and reliability of hydrogen fuel cells need a large number of samples to test, and the infrastructure construction cost of hydrogen refueling stations is much higher than that of gas stations and charging stations. However, there are always some similarities in history. 1997 The first generation Toyota Prius was also controversial at that time.
By 2030, Toyota's global sales of new energy vehicles are expected to reach 5.5 million, including 4.5 million HEV and PHEV models, and 6.5438+0 million EV and FCEV models. EV and PHEV models will remain the main models of Toyota in the new energy market in the future.
Our original intention of developing new energy vehicles is to find a substitute for oil and alleviate or even solve the increasingly serious energy crisis. Before we completely use renewable energy to generate electricity, pure electric system may still be the transitional power form of new energy vehicles. Toyota HEV and PHEV models can effectively reduce fuel consumption and prolong the time to find clean energy. After all, this is a transitional scheme. Will FCEV model be the final solution? At present, it is still unknown, but its probability of becoming the optimal solution will be higher.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.