Japan-headed automaker Toyota Motor Corporation debuted a prototype of the world's first hybrid flexible-fuel vehicle (Hybrid FFV) at an event held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The prototype is the combination of a flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) that can be powered by both gasoline and ethanol as well as Toyota's hybrid powertrain system which combines an internal combustion engine with an electric powertrain.
The event, which was held on March 19, was attended by ethanol stakeholders in Brazil including the state government, universities, and the sugarcane industry association UNICA.
According to Toyota, its Hybrid FFV is a new powertrain system that the company is developing with an aim to popularize Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Brazil and contribute carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction.
Built on Toyota’s hybrid system that has high energy efficiency and low emission levels, Hybrid FFV has the potential to reduce total vehicle CO2 emissions further by enabling the use of sugarcane-derived ethanol. The prototype uses the Toyota Prius as a base model, which is currently sold and becoming popular in Brazil.
Toyota’s initial studies indicate that Hybrid FFV has a great advantage in environmental performance compared to a standard FFV when CO2 emissions starting with the extraction of the raw material, through its distribution at the fuel pumps to the ignition in the combustion process of the car are factored in. If it is fueled using 100 percent sugarcane-based ethanol, E100, the results are even better.
The development of Hybrid FFV represents one of Toyota’s efforts to achieve its “Environmental Challenge 2050” where it challenges itself to reduce vehicle CO2 emissions by 90 percent in comparison with 2010 levels, by 2050.
Another objective of the Environmental Challenge is to completely eliminate CO2 emissions from the vehicle lifecycle, including materials, parts, and manufacturing. In line with that goal, Toyota also targets to have more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles in its global new vehicle sales by 2030.
I am very proud of our Toyota do Brasil engineers that worked closely with our engineers in Japan to develop the world’s cleanest hybrid vehicle that uses ethanol for our Brazilian customers. The invention demonstrates our journey in providing a new mobility society, said Steve St. Angelo, Senior Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation serving as CEO of Toyota Latin America Region and the Caribbean, as well as Chairman of Toyota do Brasil.
Toward the commercialization of Hybrid FFV in Brazil, Toyota will collect various data through real-world road testing in Brazil going forward and evaluate the system’s reliability, durability, and powertrain performance.
