Toyota plans to refresh its whole engine line-up starting 2017, by introducing new engines and transmissions in its upcoming vehicles. The new cars based on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform will now feature new powertrains to make its cars more efficient and fun to drive. The upcoming Camry will be one of the first car’s to get these new engine options when it arrives in India.
Toyota has named this new line of engines as “Dynamic Force Engines” and includes a 2.5-litre direct-injection inline four-cylinder petrol unit. These engines will be based on the TNGA platform and Toyota says the engine is worked upon to have a greater thermal efficiency, consequently putting out higher output due to reduced energy losses. The Japanese manufacturer claims the new line-up of 2.5-litre engines have the best thermal efficiency of 40 per cent in conventional form and 41 per cent in the Hybrid powertrain.
Two new automatic transmissions are also in the works which includes an eight-speed and 10-speed direct-shift gearboxes. These gearboxes are developed to minimise the energy losses with new manufacturing methods and materials. The gearboxes have fewer clutch torque losses than current gearboxes and are also compact and lighter, says Toyota.
Toyota has also developed their Toyota Hybrid System II (THS-II) system which is already seen in the fourth-generation Prius. It is now enhanced to accommodate the new 2.5-litre engines. This system is also developed for rear-wheel-drive vehicles called the Multistage THS II. The hybrid vehicles PHVs powertrain are worked upon as well, with a new dual-mode drive system. This allows the electric motor to provide direct driving, which was hitherto used only as a generator. A large capacity lithium-ion battery is also employed to increase the range to around 60 km.
Toyota plans to introduce 17 versions of the nine engines, including the aforementioned 2.5-liter engine, 10 versions of four transmissions, including multi-geared automatic transmissions and a new kind of continuously variable transmission (CVT), and 10 versions of six hybrid systems within the next five years till 2021. By the end of 2021, Toyota aims to have the new powertrain units feature in 60 per cent or more of Toyota and Lexus-brand vehicles sold in Japan, the United States, Europe and China. The same will follow suit in India as well.
