Toyota is already a household name when it comes to hybrid vehicles, but not everyone wants what could be viewed as another ho-hum hybrid.
What about people interested in performance? If anyone can balance a hybrid vehicle system to the performance side of the scale, Toyota can. After all, hybrid vehicle systems equipped with high-torque electric motors are the most obvious candidates for anyone interested in putting the most amount of rubber on the pavement in the shortest amount of time.
For the most part, we have seen Toyota Synergy Drive in Toyota Prius since the late 1990s, and now in other Toyota models, including the Camry, Avalon, and Highlander, but always tuned more toward efficiency than performance. If you want to get into more spiffing Synergy Drive, you’ll have to switch over to Lexus, with hybrid vehicles like the ES300h, RX400h, and LS600h [a hybrid vehicle joke, really, but, whatever].
Toyota looks to release something a touch more on the performance side at the Frankfurt Motor Show, signified by a single image, not of a vehicle, but of the emblem. The vehicle itself, the Toyota Hybrid-R Concept, is said to be based on Toyota Hybrid System-Racing [THS-R] technology that was developed in the TS030 Hybrid, which won second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The TS030 Hybrid vehicle that ran the Le Mans was powered by a 3.4ℓ v8 and a capacitor-based electric drive for a total output of 830hp. That’s pretty much all we have to go on, so far. Toyota will be releasing more information as the show draws closer, I’m certain.
Image © Toyota
