Cars
on-track success and the models they actually sell to the public.
The truth is, though, that these days racing technology is so sophisticated, and thus costly, that its use on everyday cars is all but prohibited. Sure, some of it eventually trickles down eventually on production models but not quite in the same form – even if those PR departments would like us to believe otherwise.
Toyota, however, went the other way around, as it is already testing certain parts of the current Prius replacement in its TS040 Hybrid Le Mans racer, which currently leads the championship standings.
“Our components already have parts from the next-generation Priusâ€, president of Toyota Motorsport GmbH Yoshiaki Kinoshita told Autonews. Although he wasn’t willing to go into much detail, Kinoshita said that they weren’t mechanical parts but rather preproduction prototypes of microchips and microcontrollers that are tested for longevity in the harsh environment of endurance racing.
One thing the racer and the street-going hybrids have in common is the need for fuel efficiency. The TS040 has been redesigned in order to reduce its consumption by 25 percent compared to the 2013 TS030 car while, at the same time, increasing a much higher output of 1,000HP to the previous racer’s 750!
Kinoshita revealed that one technology that most certainly won’t feature in the fourth-generation Prius is the racing car’s electric power storage system. That’s because the former uses supercapacitors for its braking energy storage and subsequent release, an energy flow that happens much faster than in any street car that’s perfectly OK with batteries.
Then there are the semiconductors, which manage the energy flow between the hybrid’s battery, motor and generator. Toyota revealed last May that it has developed a silicon carbide semiconductor that can increase fuel efficiency by 10 percent and that it plans to commercialize it in around six years’ time. Probably after they have been thoroughly tested on a future hybrid racer for a sufficient amount of time, we presume.
By Andrew Tsaosusis
- Toyota To Take On Porsche And Audi With New 1,000ps Ts040 Hybrid Racer [w/videos]
Revealed today at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France is Toyota's new FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans challenger, the TS040 Hybrid that replaces the TS030 Hybrid with which the Japanese team competed in the 2012 and 2013 motorsport...
- Toyota Introduces Its New Ts030 Hybrid Le Mans Endurance Racer
You lose some, you win some. About a week after Peugeot unexpectedly axed its Le Mans racing program, Toyota revealed its all-new TS030 Hybrid endurance prototype, which is the spiritual successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars that participated at Le Mans...
- Video: New Porsche 911 Gt3 R Hybrid With Williams-developed Energy Storage System
If you're wondering why we (or anybody else, for that matter) didn't note that the energy storage system used on Porsche's new 911 GT3 Hybrid racer was developed by Williams in our original post, that's because the Germans 'conveniently'...
- 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid- New Photo
Yes, that's right; even though we're counting hours for the official debut of the new 2010 Prius, a new photograph of Toyota's highly anticipated hybrid model has made its way into the net. The third generation Prius is scheduled to go on...
- Toyota Begins Uk Trials Of Plug-in Prius Hybrid
In cooperation with EDF Energy which is one of the UK’s largest energy companies, Toyota has started UK trial runs of its prototype Prius plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV). EDF Energy has helped to install the first of 40 charging posts in the UK, with...
Cars
Next-Gen Prius to Get Technology Tested in Toyota’s Le Mans Racer
on-track success and the models they actually sell to the public.
The truth is, though, that these days racing technology is so sophisticated, and thus costly, that its use on everyday cars is all but prohibited. Sure, some of it eventually trickles down eventually on production models but not quite in the same form – even if those PR departments would like us to believe otherwise.
Toyota, however, went the other way around, as it is already testing certain parts of the current Prius replacement in its TS040 Hybrid Le Mans racer, which currently leads the championship standings.
“Our components already have parts from the next-generation Priusâ€, president of Toyota Motorsport GmbH Yoshiaki Kinoshita told Autonews. Although he wasn’t willing to go into much detail, Kinoshita said that they weren’t mechanical parts but rather preproduction prototypes of microchips and microcontrollers that are tested for longevity in the harsh environment of endurance racing.
One thing the racer and the street-going hybrids have in common is the need for fuel efficiency. The TS040 has been redesigned in order to reduce its consumption by 25 percent compared to the 2013 TS030 car while, at the same time, increasing a much higher output of 1,000HP to the previous racer’s 750!
Kinoshita revealed that one technology that most certainly won’t feature in the fourth-generation Prius is the racing car’s electric power storage system. That’s because the former uses supercapacitors for its braking energy storage and subsequent release, an energy flow that happens much faster than in any street car that’s perfectly OK with batteries.
Then there are the semiconductors, which manage the energy flow between the hybrid’s battery, motor and generator. Toyota revealed last May that it has developed a silicon carbide semiconductor that can increase fuel efficiency by 10 percent and that it plans to commercialize it in around six years’ time. Probably after they have been thoroughly tested on a future hybrid racer for a sufficient amount of time, we presume.
By Andrew Tsaosusis
Photo Gallery
- Toyota To Take On Porsche And Audi With New 1,000ps Ts040 Hybrid Racer [w/videos]
Revealed today at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France is Toyota's new FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans challenger, the TS040 Hybrid that replaces the TS030 Hybrid with which the Japanese team competed in the 2012 and 2013 motorsport...
- Toyota Introduces Its New Ts030 Hybrid Le Mans Endurance Racer
You lose some, you win some. About a week after Peugeot unexpectedly axed its Le Mans racing program, Toyota revealed its all-new TS030 Hybrid endurance prototype, which is the spiritual successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars that participated at Le Mans...
- Video: New Porsche 911 Gt3 R Hybrid With Williams-developed Energy Storage System
If you're wondering why we (or anybody else, for that matter) didn't note that the energy storage system used on Porsche's new 911 GT3 Hybrid racer was developed by Williams in our original post, that's because the Germans 'conveniently'...
- 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid- New Photo
Yes, that's right; even though we're counting hours for the official debut of the new 2010 Prius, a new photograph of Toyota's highly anticipated hybrid model has made its way into the net. The third generation Prius is scheduled to go on...
- Toyota Begins Uk Trials Of Plug-in Prius Hybrid
In cooperation with EDF Energy which is one of the UK’s largest energy companies, Toyota has started UK trial runs of its prototype Prius plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV). EDF Energy has helped to install the first of 40 charging posts in the UK, with...