Toyota Continues with New IC Engines

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/everything-we-know-so-far-about-toyota-s-game-changing-next-gen-combustion-engines/ar-BB1p3u2e

Everything We Know So Far About Toyota’s Game-Changing Next-Gen Combustion Engines

Toyota’s new hydrogen engines offer cleaner, efficient combustion for hybrid systems
Higher efficiency, compact size, and better performance with hybrid technology.
Toyota innovates in hydrogen storage, fuel cell efficiency, and engine performance for a sustainable future.

The company’s main goal is to drastically reduce carbon emissions while maintaining the performance and reliability that customers expect.

Among the standout features of this new technology is a 1.5-liter engine available in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions, along with a 2.0-liter turbocharged unit. These engines are designed to be 10 to 20 percent smaller than their predecessors, yet they deliver the same or even better fuel efficiency and performance. What makes these engines truly revolutionary is their ability to run on a variety of carbon-neutral fuels, such as synthetic e-fuels, biodiesel, hydrogen, and gasoline.

https://unionrayo.com/us/toyota-hybrid-engine-two-new-fuels/
Toyota is changing everything – no electric, no gasoline, this hybrid engine will use two completely new fuels and will not pollute at all.

Despite the growing popularity of electric vehicles, Toyota remains committed to improving internal combustion engines. The company has announced the development of a new hybrid engine, which is vastly different from the inefficient and polluting engines of the past. This time, the engine produces minimal greenhouse gas emissions.

Rather than using traditional fuels, this engine is powered by a blend of diesel and natural gas, two energy sources that have proven to be highly efficient. Toyota’s decision to pursue this technology is part of a broader strategy: they plan to offer electric vehicles in markets with strong infrastructure for charging stations, while continuing to develop alternatives for regions where that infrastructure is not yet fully established.

One key advantage of this engine is its compact size . Toyota has managed to reduce the engine’s size by 20% compared to other engines with similar power outputs, leading to greater efficiency and easier installation in a wide range of vehicles. This achievement is partly due to the use of natural gas and diesel , which have a high energy density relative to their volume.

A major selling point of this hybrid engine is its ability to significantly reduce emissions . Thanks to Toyota’s optimized combustion system, the engine emits 50% to 70% fewer greenhouse gases compared to conventional engines. This improvement is achieved without the need for a catalytic converter or particle filters , simplifying the engine’s design and lowering maintenance costs.

There will those that point out this new technology still pollutes compared to an EV. But we must factor in that lithium mining and other battery raw material mining cause pollution also. But that isn’t a static situation. Solid State batteries and LFP batteries are being produced for EVs. I don’t know the amount of pollution costs those alternatives add to the mix.
A strike against this new Toyota technology is that there is no fueling infrastructure at the present time.

Currently hybrid & plug in hybrid maintain good sale figures. Though that could change as charging stations reach ubiquitous level as gasoline stations.

Interesting times ahead.

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Yeah, that’s sort of like saying “I’ve invented a microwave oven and even a television, now I must get to work figuring out electricity.

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Although isn’t that kind of what actually happened with electricity? Edison (and others) invented a new lighting fixture - the incandescent light bulb - and then everyone went to work figuring out an electricity distribution system.

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Kind of impressive how little detail those articles contained for how long they are.

The first article boiled down to Toyota adding water injection to their hydrogen ICE engines. The article claims this is game changing. I highly doubt that. This sounds more like an incremental improvement on existing hydrogen ICE engines. Water injection has some definite performance benefits but is not a new technology. Many WWII fighter aircraft had it, for example.

The downside is that water injection adds complexity and cost, and it isn’t typically typically used in passenger vehicles except in high performance cars. The BMW M4 GTS and the Porsche 911 GT2 R, for example. Note: The M4 GTS was about double the price of a base M4. If you had to ask how much a GT2 R cost, you couldn’t afford it.

So while you can add water injection to a hydrogen ICE, I’m skeptical as to how practical it is. I’m extremely skeptical (to say the least) about hydrogen vehicles in general, so there’s that too.

The second article talked about an ICE running on a combo of diesel and natural gas. The article claimed it got 6.5 liters per 100 kilometers or about 36 miles per gallon.

36 mpg is good, but it isn’t that good. And where do you buy the natural gas/diesel combo?

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Slight quibble. The electric lightbulb had enormous advantages over the alternatives. The hydrogen ICE does the same job as a gasoline ICE. Sure, there are no greenhouse gas emissions, but the hydrogen ICE can’t be as practical as the gasoline vehicle, until there is some large number of hydrogen filling stations.

So even if you love the idea of a hydrogen vehicle, it might not get the job done for you. This is a chicken and the egg problem. There won’t be demand for hydrogen vehicles until there is a sufficient number of hydrogen filling stations. And there won’t be a demand for hydrogen filling stations until there is a sufficient number of hydrogen cars.

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Oh, absolutely. I was just noodling what Goofy wrote, and it just occurred to me that it’s actually somewhat common that the development of the product happens before - and then drives - the infrastructure necessary for the product to be useful. Someone develops the light bulb, then we start solving for electricity distribution. Someone develops the automobile, and we start solving for filling stations. Someone develops the telegraph or telephone, and that’s when we start stringing up the lines.

I agree that - unlike any of those technologies - a different fuel for an ICE car isn’t a “killer app” that’s going to drive any adoption. Here, I think Toyota is playing to the hometown audience. The Japanese government, for whatever reason, decided a while back that they were big believers in hydrogen as a tool for addressing their decarbonization goals - particularly in transportation. So that’s what they’ve been pushing:

Automakers respond to incentives. Italy went big in for natural gas as an alternative fuel source, and so they’ve got a sizable market of LPG passenger cars (more LPG cars than BEV’s, actually). Japan appears to be aiming to be the Italy of hydrogen-fueled cars.

So long as the Japanese government keeps trying to make hydrogen happen, Toyota’s probably going to accommodate.

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There weren’t very many charging stations in 2008 when the Tesla roadster came out.

So it is possible that Toyota can create a market but not probably yet.

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But you could charge at home and you can install a charger virtually anywhere you have electricity, which is almost everywhere so you could visual how it could work. So even back in 2008 you could get from home to the office and back–which is most trips and enjoy amazing acceleration on the way. For some people that works right off the bat.

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A larger quibble, greenhouse gases are more costly than any of the systems we have actually created or will create.