Development of plug-in hybrid system for midsize car

Abstract

In recent years, various energy sources have been investigated as replacements for traditional automotive fossil fuels to reduce CO2 emissions, respond to instabilities of the supply of fossil fuels, and to reduce emissions of air pollutants in urban areas. Toyota Motor Corporation considers the PHEV, which can use electricity efficiently, to be the most practical solution to these issues. Toyota already began sales of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid in 2012 in the U.S., Europe and Japan, and also will introduce to the Chinese market. This is the first PHEV to be mass-produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. Prior to this, in December 2009, Toyota introduced 650 PHEVs through lease programs for verification testing in China, the U.S., Europe and Japan. The system of mass-production vehicle specifications has major improvements in response to the results of this verification testing. As a result, EV range was increased with a smaller battery, and the system weight has been drastically reduced. Additionally, the vehicle clears the most stringent emissions regulations in different regions, and was granted Enhanced AT-PZEV credit in California. This paper discusses the development of the plug-in hybrid system for this mass-produced vehicle. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.