GHG Emissions, Industrial  -  December 7, 2016

Toyota takes aim at emissions with new technology

Photo: The 2016 Prius, provided by Toyota

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Dec. 6 that it has developed advanced engines and transmissions and further evolved its hybrid systems to reduce carbon emissions and improve fuel efficiency. 

Toyota intends to deploy the new powertrain units in what the company described in a news release as a rapidly broadening range of vehicle models starting in 2017. The units provide approximately 10% percent better power performance and approximately 20% better fuel economy, the company said. 

The Japanese automaker this year announced the launch of a new companywide program, the 2050 Environmental Challenge, that includes a number of internal goals aimed at taking the company "beyond zero environmental impact and achieve a net positive impact." Among the six specific challenges, the first is a goal to reduce vehicle CO2 emissions by 90%, in comparison to 2010 levels, by 2050.

These new units appear to support that challenge; Toyota said in its announcement that they will be featured in 60% or more of its vehicles sold annually in Japan, Europe, the U.S. and China. 

"Toyota aims to make cars with driving performance that responds to the will of the driver and are, at the same time, highly fuel efficient, among having other environment-friendly attributes," the company said in its announcement. 

Reuters reported Dec. 6 that Toyota also said it is "stepping up the development of longer-range battery-electric cars, in a shift from an earlier strategy of promoting hydrogen fuel-cell technology as the future of zero-emission vehicles."

"We need to take an aggressive approach to deal with changing regulations," Toshiyuki Mizushima, president of Toyota's powertrain division, reportedly told the press at a briefing.

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