Future of Draft: Electricity, Hydrogen and Fun

Photo: Kenan Cohen, Kenan Cohen

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At the Toyota and Lexus World Technology Conference for 2020, the companies are revealing their vision for the next five and even ten years in the areas of smart transport, paddle, and, well, fun. What will come to us?

Kenan Cohen

Something really good has been going on for Toyota in recent years. You can mark where we began to see this change in product level somewhere with the introduction of the Toyota GT86, after years that this company mainly produced good, reliable, durable and efficient cars, but so gray that their offering was with a carrot on the roof. But it's not just the products, the crisis that this manufacturer went through at the end of the last decade, in which the production race that was in order to maintain its position as the world's largest car manufacturer, led it to compromise on product quality and brought the big man Akido Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder to apologize for it and promise Change. And he came, we see his fruits today with vehicles that are very different from what he had been in the past. This is part of a concept that comes from someone who is up to the helmet in motor sports and loves it. Products like the new CHR and Rab 4 are examples of this, but so will the new Corolla, the Supra and those to come. Including some of the models that Toyota presented to us at the Kinshiki 2020 Conference.

Toyota: Hybrid, plug-in, hydrogen

The swells of the same wave of models were introduced to us with the new Yaris, which will initially be introduced with a hybrid engine. The new Yaris sits on the small GA-B platform in the TNGA family, a family that will serve 90 percent of the company's models by 2025. It has shortened its outside dimensions, but increased the wheelbase by five inches to 256 inches. The interior spacing is improved, but not significantly from the current generation, it's not clear if this is a finished production car, but the quality of the materials is also better than before. Under a dynamic and sporty exterior design, it has a 3-cylinder electric unit with a combined power of 115 kW. The fourth-generation hybrid system means maximum power of 130 km / h in power alone, and 80 percent improvement in its electric range. It, too, like all other Toyota products, will improve in terms of driving pleasure thanks to the tougher car, lower center of gravity and even improved driving position - at least as promised in Toyota. The new Yaris is expected to arrive in Israel in the second half of 2020.

New Yaris Hybrid Draft

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Manufacturer, Manufacturer Website)

On the other side of the display space stands the Rab 4 in the plugin version. Its highlight is the combined power of the 2.5-liter petrol unit with the electric motor - 306 kW. This is the strongest non-sporty Toyota in the manufacturer's supply. The 100-mph acceleration is 6.2 seconds and equally impressive is the pure electric range - 65 The hybrid system is the same as the regular Rab 4, but the lithium ison battery is larger and is located below the passenger compartment with a slight exception to the trunk. This reduces its volume by 15 liters to 520 liters in this version. See him in Israel.

Rab 4 Flag in Hybrid, the fastest non-sporting toita

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Manufacturer, Manufacturer Website)

Despite the success of the hybrid models, it is clear to Toyota that the future proposition does not lie in a single solution. Different customers have different needs and are derived from different propulsions that suit their needs. This is an insight that brings us to the third vertex of the models, the one that already allows us to look to the more distant future with Mirai 2. This is not a production car, but a prototype very close to that. The first generation of the Mirai was the pioneer of hydrogen cars, the ones that use a fuel cell to convert hydrogen into electricity when its by-product is - water. This propulsion form allows manufacturers to bridge one of the big problems of electric cars - charging. Hydrogen refueling, done similar to gasoline or diesel fuels and does not even require very large changes in gas station infrastructure, allows the program to "load" the hydrogen within 3-5 minutes in a range of 650 km.

The compact version of the TNGA platform on which Harris sits and which will use the future crossover

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Manufacturer, Manufacturer Website)

The Mirai uses the large version of the Toyota GA-L modular platform tailored for rear-wheel drive cars. At the moment, the Mirai is a single model, but to my question Toyota Product Manager in Europe answered that its base allows for the construction of additional vehicles on top of it. "Crossover?" I ask, "other chariots" the guy replies and does not specify.

Aside from these three cars, Toyota approved the crossover production program in the SUV B segment as we told you before. The new model will be produced in parallel with Yaris in Toyota's factories in France. At the moment all she is posting is a general illustration of her showing lines similar to those of Rab 4.

Supra GR

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

And it's fun

"I want to use Gazo Racing as a platform to develop better cars, and to develop people who make better cars" - Akio Toyoda. With this motto, they chose to open the part of the event that touched Gazo Racing. Toyota Gazo Racing's sports division has undergone an unprecedented year of achievement in motor sports. With the Rally Manufacturers Championship, a victory in the Le Mans 24-hour race and a highly-respected second place in Decar with a heavily-hailed (heavily-weighted) Hilks of a South African team run by Nasser Al Atia.

This divisional structure can be described as a three-tiered pyramid, with its manufacturer's racing teams. Below it are the regular GR models, as the SU GR in the draft defines its dynamic version, it uses a 258 kW 2.0-liter engine, which allows it to be lighter than the regular 100kg model and precisely as a car that will appeal to drivers looking for more engagement And less power they choose to equip it strangely precisely in an eight-speed automatic transmission. The acceleration per 100 mph takes 5.2 seconds compared to the 3.0 liter version. From this version, 200 units of the Fuji Speedway edition in white will be produced and with its unique external and internal design features.

Yaris GR - A three-cylinder aircraft

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Serial Model, OK, Another pretty serial of this division is Harris GR. This tiny demon is based on Harris, but here the business gets really interesting. It was developed when it relies on the experience gained in Gazo Racing from the Rally races and is a kind of road replica. Just like there were cars like the Subaru Impreza GT in the 1990s and later the STI or Mitsubishi Evolution for generations. The action is responsible for the 1.6-liter turbocharged 1.6-liter engine that delivers 261 hp and drives the four wheels through a manual gearbox.

1.6-liter turbocharged 261 hp

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Manufacturer, Manufacturer Website)

Using aluminum in the hood and doors, a carbon-fiber reinforced roof stops the weight of the small missile at 1.208kg and the stopwatch to 100km / h in less than 5.5 seconds. It uses a combination of the new Yaris GA-B platform in the front and the TNGA platform in the back to allow it to use a multi-connection rack in the back. Yaris GR manufactures Toyota in Japan, in a special factory in which it is built and handmade by a special team of workers.

At the base of the pyramid are GR Sport versions, which take the usual Toyota models like Hyaris, Corolla in the hatchback and station formations, add sporty design features such as spoilers, skirts and do not touch the cabin design, but no change in suspension systems or different calibration for racks.

The concept car LF-30 looks very far into the future

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Lexus' next destination: electricity

The Lexus showroom has placed two poles of the next few years in the Japanese luxury brand. The LF-30 concept car catches the eye, but the more important model for Lexus in the near future is the UX300e electric version of the crossover UX.

The COSPET vehicle, as concept cars mostly releases into the physical and virtual air space, has a clear idea that the distance between them and actual feasibility is tremendous. With LS length, LC width, UX seat height, and interior minivan LM (Asian markets dedicated) is a spectacular display of angles and use of massive amounts of glass. But he did emphasize one important thing, the first being that after many years of pretty stencil designs (except for the spectacular LC), Lexus had no problem declaring that they were going to dare. As far as the head of the project is concerned, the fact that it is a manufacturer that is not bound by design or visual features that have been fixed for many decades is an opportunity to break out. We'll see what will come of it for the next models to come from there.

Minivan-style passenger compartment

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

But the more important model in the near term is the 300 UX electric. Unlike the other premium companies in Lexus, they did not produce a dedicated electric model such as Audi e-tron, Mercedes EQC or Jaguar i-PACE, but chose to convert and power an existing model. According to Pascal Rouge, Lexus Europe's head says there is not one "right" solution for an electric car and in the case of Lexus's existing platforms the right thing to do was convert the UX.

In other words - it was the easier, faster and cheaper solution at this point in time. Will you have a dedicated electric model in the future? I ask him, Rouge does not answer directly but between the lines it can be understood that one such is planned and it is supposed to be a crossover. This future also includes a range of solutions that will deliver hybrids as they currently exist, plug-ins and electric cars, models that will share Toyota's flexible TNGA platform. This also means that future generations of Lexus are going to move to front-wheel drive unlike most of its models today.

UX300e more than power conversion, a declared range of 300 km

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Back in the UX300e, the electric motor delivers 204 hp, the 54 kWh lithium-ion batteries are expected to deliver a declared range of 300 km according to the strict WLTP standard. The exterior design differences are very small, an airtight front grille (in the absence of a radiator or engine for cooling) and tags that give off the electric propulsion.

The model is much more than a battery plant and an electric propulsion system, and this is a new calibration and change the car has undergone in aspects that should affect its behavior. The car has been hardened by 10 percent, as a result of this hardening, the suspension was also calibrated and the center of gravity lowered due to the placement of the batteries in the car floor.
For Israel, the model will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2020, we will be the first countries to receive it.

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

All options on the table

Kinshiki - Insight, Enlightenment, and Vision in Japanese was the name of the event for the journalist company in which its senior executives sought to outline their concept for the next five years and beyond. Dr. Johann van Zell, CEO and President of Toyota Europe describes the forces that, in their view, will shape the future of the company and of the industry as a whole. He lists the issue of air pollution that shapes regulators' attitude to the automotive industry, born in the 1990s and 2000s, which are both economic and political power and have completely different perceptions about the car's impact on the environment and even the need for a private car. The final point is a huge challenge not only for Toyota but for all car makers.

Hyaris GR paddle assemblies

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

When it comes to working with regulators and the environment, while other car makers are in such panic scales following the application of the CAFE (acronym for CLEAN AIR FOR EUROPE), which does not meet huge billions of euros in fines - Toyota looks relatively leisurely on the Amok run Theirs for hybrid cars, since it has been cultivating and developing this sector for over two decades. In fact, 52 percent of Toyota sales in Europe are from hybrid cars, with its luxury division Lexus, at 90 percent. The significance of such a sales mix is ​​the relative ease of meeting its quotas.

Toyota Mirai 2 Concept. The benefits of gasoline refueling and zero electric car emissions, only the infrastructure is far away

Kinshiki 2020 (Photo: Manufacturer, Manufacturer Website)

According to Toyota, its expectation of electric direction is to sell a million zero-emission cars by 2030. That means mostly a very large change in the amount and type of models the company currently has, because despite high hybrids, pure electric response is not yet in its showrooms. That, too, is going to change, with the company expected to launch 40 new or updated hybrid propulsion and plug-in models by the year 2025, and 10 fully electric models (socket or hydrogen-charged). In terms of sales mix that means 70 percent hybrids, 10 percent plugins, 10 percent completely electric. You are not wrong, we are left with 10 percent - these are going to stay with an internal combustion engine and there will be SUVs and sports cars. In terms of Toyota's ecosystem for any car, use, or designation - it has the appropriate propulsion and the concept of one solution for all population and all vehicles is incorrect.

While other manufacturers choose to focus on one solution, Toyota's approach does bring the manufacturer into resource diversification, but there they say the risks they take are calculated and are continually examining their next steps. Either way, on the bottom line, we have seen more companies that have not internalized the need for a dissolving change, on the other hand to embrace the transport world that is changing before our eyes is already a first step right.