Toyota is presenting a prototype of the world’s
first hybrid flexible-fuel vehicle (hybrid FFV) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which it
hopes will become commercially available in the future. The prototype uses a
Prius as a base model, and will undergo plenty of real-world road testing in
Brazil to evaluate the system’s reliability, durability and powertrain
performance.
According to Toyota, a hybrid FFV has the potential
to reduce total CO2 emissions by leveraging on the benefits of its hybrid system
(high energy efficiency and low emission levels) and the CO2 reabsorption
capacity of ethanol, a plant-derived 100% renewable fuel. Being a flexible-fuel
system, the powertrain can also use regular petrol should ethanol not be
available.
Initial studies indicate a hybrid FFV offers better
environmental performance compared to a standard FFV. This is according to 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. These results are further improved when using only sugarcane-based ethanol
(E100 fuel).
Development of the hybrid FFV is one of several
efforts by Toyota to achieve its “Environmental Challenge 2050,” where it is
looking to reduce vehicle CO2 emissions by 90% 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.
