According to reports, BluE, a Japanese company that develops and supplies hybrid systems? Nexus has reached an agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group on technology transfer.
In response to this matter, insiders of GAC revealed to the media that the news has not been officially announced, but it is certain that GAC hybrid products using Toyota THS system will be listed on 202 1.
▍ mixed forerunner
As a matter of fact, there is a saying in the industry that there are only two kinds of hybrids in the world, one is Toyota and the other is other manufacturers. Of course, this statement is somewhat exaggerated, but it also confirms Toyota's position in the hybrid system and its good reputation in the market.
Toyota's iconic hybrid technology is THS(Toyota? Half-breed? System) is a power system that costs hundreds of billions of dollars to develop. Structurally, the main structure of the system is an A-cycle engine (Atkinson cycle), a large motor and a small motor, a planetary gear mechanism and related battery pack/energy management mechanism, and there is no gearbox in the traditional sense.
The beauty of this technology lies in the effective combination of parallel and series modes through the planetary gear mechanism, and the proportional control of electric drive and gasoline fuel drive is completely calculated and distributed by the energy control unit, thus achieving the best hybrid ratio. The advantages are fuel economy, no endurance anxiety, cheaper price and higher reliability than pure electricity and plug-in electricity.
THS hybrid power system was first applied to the first generation Toyota Prius in 1997. In the initial stage of the first generation Prius, the awareness of "HEV" was not high. Toyota questioned whether the technology could make money, and the market also satirized the technology as "a car driven by an otaku". Looking back today, it was just a small incident, but it was not so simple at that time.
After four generations of technological changes, Toyota has continuously expanded its HEV product lineup. At this year's Beijing Auto Show, Toyota brought Asian Dragon Twin-Engine, Camry Twin-Engine, Corolla Twin-Engine, Ralink Twin-Engine Sport Edition, Housing Fusion Twin-Engine, Willanda Twin-Engine and Lexus hybrid models to China users, with a strong lineup.
In terms of market share, according to Toyota's statistics, the models equipped with THS technology will be launched in 20 17? In 2008, the global cumulative sales volume exceeded 6,543,800+million vehicles. By the end of July 2020, the global cumulative sales of Toyota electric vehicles, mainly HEV, had exceeded160,000 vehicles. During this period, Toyota won the "first mass production? HEV？ Model, the first HEV global sales exceeded10 million, the first imported HEV model, the first domestic HEV powertrain, the first HEV lineup covering cars, SUVs and MPVs, and many other industries became the benchmark in the field of hybrid power.
▍ technical fortress
Due to the 20-year term of invention patents, several basic hybrid patents of Toyota expired on 20 13, involving control system and drive mode. However, Toyota registered the most important core patent planetary gear mechanism of hybrid power system in 1997, which became invalid in the United States and Europe on February 20, 2007.
This patent describes how to use internal combustion engine and motor to distribute power through planetary gear mechanism, which belongs to the basic patent of Toyota THS series-parallel hybrid power system.
Toyota's hybrid-related patents gradually expire, which reduces Toyota's patent barriers to other manufacturers to some extent, but this does not mean that hybrid models can easily go off the production lines of other manufacturers and go to the market.
Anyone who knows a little about the production site knows that "what to do" is only the starting point of design and production, and "how to do it" is the most important part in industrial production. And this key problem needs to be explored and developed by other car companies, which have invested huge R&D costs and experienced very difficult engineering production and operation.
Toyota's core patent protection of planetary gear mechanism in Europe and America has expired, but in China market, since 2003, Toyota has applied for a number of patents related to planetary gears in China, of which the patent first applied in June 65438 +65438 10+May 2003 will not last for 20 years until 2023.
In this regard, industry experts said, "Toyota applied for a number of auxiliary patents in the China market around this core technology, forming a complex' patent group', which in turn formed a' technical barrier', which had a certain impact on the research and development of other automobile companies in this field."
On China National Intellectual Property Administration's website, 335 Toyota invention patents can be found with "hybrid power" as the key word. Toyota sets up technical barriers through layers of patents. Once other car companies adopt similar inventions, they must pay Toyota a technology license fee.
(Toyota THS-II system)
Surprisingly, however, in April of 20 19, Toyota announced that it would open 23,740 patents of motor, electronic control (PCU) and system control accumulated by Toyota for free. In addition, Toyota will provide paid technical support to enterprises using its electrification system.
▍ Toyota's retreat and advance
Then the question is, why should Toyota share such advanced hybrid technology with other car companies? In-depth analysis will find that seemingly accidental, in fact, it is inevitable under Toyota's overall industry view.
A person close to Toyota told reporters: "Toyota either blocked the technology or charged too much and closed the door tightly." In fact, this practice hinders the comprehensive promotion of hybrid vehicles. Everyone can't get in, and HEV mixing is difficult to popularize. "
Earlier, Miao Wei, then Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, once said: "Japanese companies declared to the International Organization for Standardization to turn Japanese mixed standards into international standards, which also affected us. The traditional hybrid represented by Toyota has designed many technical traps. We can't touch it. "
Miao Wei's words expressed the government's attitude towards hybrid technology from the side. It is precisely because Japanese car companies, represented by Toyota, overprotect their technology and try to turn it into international standards that China car companies have great difficulties in developing hybrid vehicles.
Insiders admit that when China formulated the new energy technology route in 20 12, some experts said: "Toyota's hybrid vehicles will not receive new energy subsidies in China. If the hybrid car is subsidized on a large scale, Toyota will take most of the share. " In line with this, European car companies generally reached an agreement, that is, bypassing Toyota in the field of strong mixing and seeking other ways out.
At that time, the development route of new energy vehicles in China, Europe and America was very clear, that is, after developing weak hybrid and medium hybrid, it directly transited to plug-in hybrid and crossed the strong hybrid stage, which was covered by a large number of patents of Toyota. The rise of Tesla and the rapid growth of electric vehicle enterprises in China are both confirming the irresistible trend of electrification.
Tesla announced on 20 14 that it would allow other companies to use Tesla's patents, which set off an "open source movement" in the automobile industry. Unlike Toyota's open technology patents, Tesla does not need to apply for the use of Tesla patents, that is, Tesla allows you to use relevant patents by default and will not sue.
In contrast, Toyota has held the patent of HEV core hybrid technology for many years, but it has not received much return from it. In addition, in recent years, Toyota technology patents have entered a period of intensive invalidation, and there is no way to realize them. When the whole industry crosses the HEV technical route, the value of Toyota patents will be greatly reduced.
(Toyota THS-II system)
Therefore, seeking change has become a necessity.
Instead of waiting for the patent to expire, it is better to take the initiative and release goodwill. Do you have the Toyota free HEV mentioned above? Strategic changes in the right to use 23,740 patents.
Patents have been liberalized, and other car companies also want to produce world-leading hybrid products. Without Toyota's technical support, it is not easy. Of course, there is a link to realize Toyota's technology.
So from 2065438 to September 2009, Toyota signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with GAC and FAW, including installing fuel cell technology on models of GAC and joint ventures, expanding the cooperation scope of hybrid vehicles and promoting the development of electric vehicle models. The introduction of Toyota hybrid technology by Guangzhou Automobile Group is also a part of strategic cooperation.
In fact, the Toyota THS hybrid system is made by Japanese company BluE? Nexus is developed and supplied by Toyota, Denso and Aisin Seiki. Toyota's patent liberalization can further expand its market share of hybrid technology and increase its shipments as an industrial chain supplier.
In addition, promoting the application of hybrid technology in an all-round way with China automobile enterprises may also allow more enterprises to join the technical camp of hybrid vehicles, which will have a far-reaching impact on the technological development path of the automobile industry.
At the latest policy level, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments reviewed and approved the new version of the Measures for the Parallel Management of Average Fuel Consumption of Passenger Car Enterprises and New Energy Vehicle Points, put forward the concept of "low fuel consumption passenger car" for the first time and defined the preferential rules for point accounting, which will be implemented from 202 1 1.
Hybrid vehicles such as Toyota and Honda will be included in the environmental protection category under the new management measures, which will benefit the route of hybrid technology and encourage more China car companies to pay more attention to hybrid technology.
For car companies, there are opportunities and other possibilities only if they have market share. Similarly, technology is technology only if it is applied. It can be predicted that after the release of HEV hybrid technology in China, Toyota's appetite will grow. For Toyota, Battlefield 2.0 has just begun.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.