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Toyota has developed a new 2.4L L4 turbo (2.4L-T) engine with 8AT and 1-motor hybrid electric powertrains for midsize pickup trucks. The aim of these powertrains is to fulfill both strict fuel economy and emission regulations toward “Carbon Neutrality”, while exceeding customer expectations. The new 2.4L L4 turbocharged gasoline engine complies with severe Tier3 Bin30/LEVIII SULEV30 emission regulations for body-on-frame midsize pickup trucks improving both thermal efficiency and maximum torque. This engine is matched with a newly developed 8-speed automatic transmission with wide range and close step gear ratios and extended lock-up range to fulfill three trade-off performances: powerful driving, NVH and fuel economy. In addition, a 1-motor hybrid electric version is developed with a motor generator and disconnect clutch between the engine and transmission.

Toyota has been introducing several hybrid vehicles (HV) since 1997 as a countermeasure to the concerns raised by automobile, like CO2 reduction, energy security, and pollutant emission reduction in urban areas. Plug in hybrid Vehicle (PHV) uses electric energy from grid rather than fuel for most short trips and therefore presents a next step forward towards an even more effective solution for these concerns. For longer trips, the PHV works as a conventional hybrid vehicle, providing all the benefits of Toyota full hybrid technology, such as low fuel consumption, user-friendliness and long cruising range. This paper describes a newly developed plug-in hybrid system and its vehicle performance. This system uses a Li-ion battery with high energy density and has an EV-range within usual trip length without sacrificing cabin space.

Vehicle weight reduction is becoming more and more important as increasingly stringent fuel economy regulations are introduced around the world. This development improved the hydraulic gear pump performance of the next-generation Active Height Control (AHC) suspension and achieved significant weight reduction of 5 kg by eliminating the auxiliary pump accumulator. To realize the necessary high-pressure with a high flow rate, the sealing performance of the pump at the tips of the gear teeth is very important. This was achieved by developing “breaking-in” technology that shaves away the aluminum housing using the gear teeth and creates zero clearance between the teeth tips and the housing. To reduce the frictional loss torque of the pump, which was identified as an issue of this technology, it was necessary to completely shave away the initial clearance in the breaking-in process.

This research aimed to improve the PN filtration efficiency of a catalyst coated gasoline particulate filter (cGPF) to meet the next generation of emissions regulations for internal combustion engines. This paper proposes a concept that improves the PN filtration performance while maintaining low pressure drop by forming a thin PM trap layer on the surface of the cGPF substrate. The design guidelines for the coating particle size and coating amount of the PM trap layer were investigated, and actual manufacturing issues were also identified. The validity of this concept and guidelines was then verified on an actual vehicle.

Stringent emission regulations call for advanced catalyst substrates with thinner walls and higher cell density. However, substrates with higher cell density increase backpressure, thinner cell wall substrates have lower mechanical characteristics. Therefore we will focus on cell configurations that will show a positive effect on backpressure and emission performance. We found that hexagonal cells have a greater effect on emission and backpressure performance versus square or round cell configurations. This paper will describe in detail the advantage of hexagonal cell configuration versus round or square configurations with respect to the following features: 1 High Oxygen Storage Capacity (OSC) performance due to uniformity of the catalyst coating layer 2 Low backpressure due to the large hydraulic diameter of the catalyst cell 3 Quick light off characteristics due to efficient heat transfer and low thermal mass

A new HC adsorber system was developed to achieve California SULEV emission standards for a V8 5.0-liter engine application (i.e. LS600hL). A HC adsorber system was first released on 2001 PZEV Prius (1.5-liter engine) in U.S.A. For the 5.0L application the substrate volume of both catalyst and adsorber had to be enlarged for a large volume displacement. Prius-type adsorber system could not be adopted for LS600hL because of the problems of installation. So, a new constructional adsorber was proposed. However the increase of gas flow into the adsorber substrate was a problem for desorption. The gas flow into the adsorber substrate was found to be controllable by the specification adjustment of the “throat” and “retainer” parts of adsorber system. Thus the rapid desorption was successfully reduced, and the HC adsorber system achieved a 50% reduction of HC emission.

The effects of gasoline fuel properties on exhaust emissions were investigated. Port injection LEVs, a ULEV, a prototype SULEV which were equipped with three–way (3–way) catalysts and also two vehicles with direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines equipped with NOx storage reduction (NSR) catalysts were tested. Fuel sulfur showed a large effect on exhaust emissions in all the systems. In the case of the DISI engine with the NSR catalyst, NOx conversion efficiency and also regeneration from sulfur poisoning were dramatically improved by reducing sulfur from 30ppm to 8ppm. Distillation properties also affected the HC emissions significantly. The HC emissions increased in both the LEV and the ULEV with a driveability index (DI) higher than about 1150 (deg.F). The ULEV was more sensitive than the LEV. These results show that fuel properties will be important for future technologies required to meet stringent emission regulations.

Spark ignition direct injection (SIDI) engines have the potential to realize significant thermal efficiency improvements compared to conventional port fuel injection engines. The effects of fuel properties on efficiency and emissions have been investigated in a prototype of an Avensis Wagon equipped with a 2.0 liter, 4 cylinder spark ignition, direct injection (SIDI) engine designed to meet US 2000 emission standards. The vehicle employed a close coupled three-way catalyst and a NOx storage and reduction catalyst. Seven matrix fuels were blended to the same RON with varying levels of aromatics, olefins, ethanol, and volatility. Relative thermal efficiency, fuel economy, and tailpipe emissions were measured for the matrix fuels and a base fuel under the FTP LA4 driving cycle. The engine was operated in a lean burn mode in light load condition for approximately half of the driving cycle.

The Diesel Dual Fuel (DDF) vehicle is one of the technologies to convert diesel vehicles for natural gas usage. The purpose of this research was to study the possibility of a DDF vehicle to meet emission standards for diesel vehicles. This research was done for small passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. The exhaust emissions compliance of such vehicles in a New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) mode which was composed of Urban Driving Cycles (UDC) and an Extra Urban Driving Cycle (EUDC) was evaluated. (see APPENDIXFigure A1) In this study, the passenger vehicle engine, compliant with the EURO4 standard, was converted to a DDF engine. Engine bench tests under steady state conditions showed similar result to previous papers. Total hydrocarbon (HC) emission was extremely high, compared to diesel engine. The NEDC mode emissions of the DDF vehicle were estimated based on these engine bench test results.

As vehicle emission regulations become increasingly rigorous, the automotive industry is accelerating the development of electrified vehicle platforms such as Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). Since the available waste heat from these vehicles is limited, additional heat sources such as electric heaters are needed for cabin heating operation. The use of a heat pump system is one of the solutions to improve EV driving range at cold ambient conditions. In this study, an efficient gas-injection heat pump system has been developed, which achieves high cabin heating performance at low ambient temperature and dehumidification operation without the assistance of electric heaters in ’17 model year Prius Prime.

To meet increasing driveability expectation and government stringent fuel economy regulations reducing CO2 emissions of passenger cars; Toyota developed a new 8-speed automatic transmission "Direct Shift-8AT". Direct Shift-8AT is the first stepped automatic transmission model based on “TNGA” philosophy. New models which received Direct Shift-8AT are the new Camry, Highlander and Sienna. Direct Shift-8AT has an innovative control method with gear train and torque converter models, providing enhanced driveability and fuel economy performance through high efficiency transmission technology. This paper describes details of the new technology and vehicle performance.

Emission regulations in many countries and regions around the world are becoming stricter in reaction to the increasing awareness of environment protections, and it has now become necessary to improve the performance of catalytic converters to achieve these goals. A catalytic converter is composed of a catalytically active material coated onto a ceramic honeycomb-structured substrate. Honeycomb substrates play the role of ensuring intimate contact between the exhaust gas and the catalyst within the substrate’s flow channels. In recent years, high-load test cycles have been introduced which require increased robustness to maintain low emissions during the wide range of load changes. Therefore, it is extremely important to increase the probability of contact between the exhaust gas and catalyst. To achieve this contact, several measures were considered such as increasing active sites or geometrical surface areas by utilizing substrates with higher cell densities or larger volumes.

Toyota has been introducing several hybrid vehicles (HV) as a countermeasure to concerns related to the automotive mobility like CO2 reduction, energy security, and emission reduction in urban areas. A next step towards an even more effective solution for these concerns is a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV). This vehicle combines the advantages of electric vehicles (EV), which can use clean electric energy, and HV with it's high environmental potential and user-friendliness comparable to conventional vehicles such as a long cruising range. This paper describes a newly developed plug-in hybrid system and its vehicle performance. This system uses a Li-ion battery with high energy density and has an EV-range within usual trip length without sacrificing cabin space. The vehicle achieves a CO2 emission of 59g/km and meets the most stringent emission regulations in the world. The new PHV is a forerunner of the large-scale mass production PHV which will be introduced in two years.

In recent years, many various energy sources have been investigated as replacements for traditional automotive fossil fuels to help reduce CO₂ emissions, respond to instabilities in the supply of fossil fuels, and reduce emissions of air pollutants in urban areas. Toyota Motor Corporation considers the plug-in hybrid vehicle, which can use electricity efficiently, to be the most practical current solution to these issues. For this reason, Toyota began sales of the Prius plug-in hybrid in early 2012 in both the U.S. and Japan. This is the first plug-in hybrid vehicle to be mass-produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. Prior to this, in December 2009, Toyota sold 650 plug-in hybrid vehicles through lease programs for verification testing in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. The system of the recently launched mass-produced vehicle underwent major improvements in response to the results of this verification testing. As a result, EV range was increased with a smaller battery.

There is increasing demand for highly functional diesel engine turbochargers capable of meeting Euro 6 emissions regulations while improving dynamic performance and fuel economy. However, since these requirements cannot be easily satisfied through refinements of existing technology, Toyota Motor Corporation has developed the new D-series turbocharger for initial installation in its GD diesel engine. The higher efficiency and wider operation range of the new turbocharger enabled the amount of the turbine flow capacity to be reduced by 30%, while helping to improve dynamic response and fuel economy. The mechanism causing the generation of fuel deposits in the fuel injection system upstream of the turbocharger, which was adopted for compliance with emissions regulations, was analyzed and fundamental countermeasures were applied. The result is a new highly functional turbocharger with greatly enhanced reliability.

Fuel economy and emission regulations for Light-duty Trucks (LDT) are becoming increasingly restrictive year by year. At the same time, Mid-size SUV demands are increasing all over the world. The advancement of Toyota Hybrid System (THS) aims to meet increasingly strict fuel economy regulations and rapidly advance vehicle technologies to meet electrification goals by 2050 (Figure 1). Toyota has been committed to the evolution of hybrid technology starting with the first Prius in 1997 and continues to develop industry leading electrification technologies. The updated hybrid system for the brand-new Highlander was developed to meet worldwide regulations and have competitive class leading fuel economy with an affordable price. This technology is necessary not only to anticipate expanding SUV sales around the world, but to also keep environmental impact to a minimum.

A low sulfated ash (S.Ash) DL-1/C2 0W-30 diesel engine oil with improved fuel economy has been developed to meet the PM targets outlined in the Euro 5 emissions standards and to help achieve the voluntary European CO2 target of 140 g/km. The newly developed engine oil is an effective solution to the trilemma (triple probrem) of reliability (high detergency and high anti wear), low S.Ash, and fuel economy, achieving a fuel economy improvement of 2% and reducing CO2 emissions by 3 g/km.

In recent years the regulations governing emissions from automobiles have been strengthened as awareness of global environmental problems has increased. Furthermore, the amount of precious metals being used has continued to decrease due to concerns over the exhaustion of natural resources and worries about the risk of fluctuations in the price of these precious metals. As a result, a high performance three-way catalyst that can satisfy the emissions regulations is now required. By applying zone-coating and carrier degradation control technology, a high performance three-way catalyst has been developed. The zone-coating technology improves the conversion performance of the catalyst through improvement of HC and NOx conversion reactions and oxygen storage capacity (OSC) reactions. The addition of an Nd surface-enriched layer strengthened the mutual interactions between the carrier and Rh.

To prevent global warming, many countries are making efforts to reduce CO2 emissions toward achieving 2050 carbon neutrality. In order to reduce CO2 concentration quickly, in addition to spread of renewable energy and expansion of BEV, it is also important to reduce CO2 emissions by improving thermal efficiency of ICE (internal combustion engine) and utilizing carbon neutral fuels such as synthetic fuels and biofuels. It is well known that lean burn is an effective technology to increase thermal efficiency of engine highly. However, since NOx emission from lean burn engine cannot be reduced with three-way catalyst, there have been issues such as complicated system configuration due to the addition of NOx reduction catalyst or limiting lean operation to narrow engine speed and load in order to meet emission regulation of each country.

Fuel consumption and CO2 emission regulations for vehicles, such as the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Regulation, motivate renewable energy technologies in the automotive industry. Therefore, the automotive industry is focused on adopting solar charging systems. Some vehicles have adopted solar energy to power the ventilation system, but these vehicles do not use solar energy to power the drivetrain. One important issue facing the design of solar charging systems is the low power generated by solar panels. Compared to solar panels for residential use, solar panels for vehicles can’t generate as much power because of size and weight limitations. Also, the power generated by solar panels can be extremely affected depending on differences in solar radiation among the cells. Therefore, Toyota has developed a solar charging system that can use solar energy for driving the Prius PHV. This system can efficiently charge the hybrid battery with the low power generated by the solar panel.