Toyota Challenges EV Market with New Combustion Engine Innovation

Toyota is pushing for a new kind of vehicle. In a three-hour presentation at Tokyo Hall at the end of May 2024, Toyota announced its plans to give the traditional internal combustion engine a brand new, somewhat futuristic, spin. It's called "an engine reborn."

According to the car manufacturing behemoth, this engine would offer lean, compact engines running on "green fuels," namely hydrogen and bioethanol. They may also be paired with the no-emissions electric motors in hybrids.

This announcement is akin to Toyota throwing to various electric vehicle manufacturers, like Tesla, which is currently touted as being the savior of the environment. Naturally, the industry can't wait to see what Toyota's "reborn engine" will look like.

How Will the "Engine Reborn" Work?

Toyota's CEO Koji Sato explained that the new engine is "optimized for the electrification era." Toyota is hoping to push the world into "carbon neutrality." Furthermore, the company is keen on pursuing a new role in the internal combustion engine. Sato noted that the internal combustion engines were designed for use with batteries in many hybrid cars.

The automaker is in fact more famous for its hybrids than its EVs. Toyota Prius is one of the world's most popular hybrid cars, having a gas engine with an electric motor. Now, according to the company, in future hybrids, the electric motor will become the primary driving power. Meanwhile, the new engine is designed for a more minor role, although it will help the electric one along.

Toyota's idea is quite straightforward. Its new engine will be smaller and more efficient. It'll also no longer be fueled by gasoline, but instead by hydrogen or bioethanol. Best of all, it'll still fit in the brand's existing hybrid cars.

James Hong, an auto analyst at Macquarie, spoke to FT, explaining that Toyota is "basically developing small-sized engines for hybrids. . . that can be mounted without modifying the design of their next-generation vehicles." And this, he said, was in line with Toyota's strategy of not relying only on a single technology. Instead, it's spreading its bets across several technologies.

Japanese Allies Subaru and Mazda Team Up with Toyota

Other Japanese carmakers, Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., are teaming up with Toyota in their quest to make eco-friendly engines that will meet the strict emissions standards of the future. This team-up, according to Sato, is a testimony of how each company is eager to win the race "but we can be faster if we work together."

These other companies are also focusing on the internal combustion engines. Mazda, for example, highlighted its famous rotary engine. Introduced more than half a century ago, the rotary engine was adapted for electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, Subaru presented its trademark "contra engine" (a driving mechanism with two horizontally opposed pistons reaching the top at the same time while counter-balancing each other.) Subaru's CTO Tetsuro Fujinuki stated the company wasn't going to dump this type of engine, although he also confirmed that they were working on a "Subaru-like EV."

The new engine will have variants that could run on diesel and petrol, although it's likely that the focus will be on using lower-emission or carbon-neutral fuels. This may also be part of a wider strategy that can keep automakers vehicles with combustion engines, albeit ones that meet environmental standards everywhere. Alternative fuels, such as electricity from renewable hydrogen and other gasses, will make it more compliant to emissions standards.

Electric Vehicles Are the Future... For Some

A die-hard EV enthusiast may look at this development skeptically, wondering whether Toyota, Subaru, and Mazda want to push EV makers over the cliff. This doesn't seem to be the intention. After all, Toyota still continues to make BEVs. Its bZ4X and bZ3 electric cars are available in selected territories.

However, the executives from Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru underlined that energy supplies are not equal everywhere in the world. The required investments for mass-producing BEVs were also exorbitant. With 5.5 million jobs at stake in Japan's vehicle production supply chain, shifting to electric cars thoughtlessly was not responsible, economically and socially.

A business professor at Waseda University, Takahiro Fujimoto, still believed that EVs are the key to reducing emissions. But he also pointed out that producing one of the key components in EVs, such as the lithium-ion batteries, also generated large amounts of emissions. A more feasible ecologically responsible option for the Japanese people is for commuters to ride trains, he said.

The professor emphasized the need to create more BEVs and continue their innovations. "But that argument is logically not the same as saying that all we need are BEVs," he said. There are still uncertainties and R&D is needed. Not to mention, he continued social, political, and market conditions that will affect the distribution of BEVs.

Fujimoto concluded, "The carbon neutrality the world is aspiring toward isn't likely attainable for decades to come." Comparing it to a long marathon race, he indicated that we could expect a long wait for electric vehicles to make their environmental mark.

Will EV Makers Answer the Challenge?

It remains to be seen whether EV makers will answer the challenge by the trio of Japanese car manufacturers. Right now, EV sales are still strong. An International Energy Agency report stated the first quarter EV sales reached more than 3 million cars sold. The Chinese market is particularly robust for EVs. There's also significant growth outside the usual EV markets, where sales more than doubled, which suggests that more and more people are transitioning to electric vehicles.

However, due to the problems renowned automaker Tesla has been facing, it may seem like the EV market is down. Tesla alone has been facing non-stop problems since its Q1 sales were announced (hint: the numbers are not so stellar.) The company's stock has also dropped more than 40% since the beginning of the year. Tesla's problems culminated in the company laying off many of its employees, even the executives, in hopes of combating the diminishing profit margins in six years.

Chinese EV maker BYD, on the other hand, is performing strongly. It poses tough competition for Tesla. President Joe Biden has even imposed a 100% tariff on all EVs bought from China to curb this competition. Clearly, the EV market is still thriving despite Toyota's push for hybrids and the new engine.

Final Thoughts on Toyota's Combustion Innovation and the EV Market

For now, we shall have to wait and see what becomes of Toyota's "engine reborn." There are no cars yet being produced with the new combustion technology so there's nothing to compare with. Still, if it works, it will even the automotive field, making traditional engines cleaner for the environment without having to switch to full battery-operated electric vehicles.

EV enthusiasts don't have anything to worry about as, obviously, the market still thrives. Despite the celebrity carmaker Tesla not having a good run this year, more and more people are switching to EVs. This is, of course, highly promising for the environment.

Check out other automotive news in A1 Auto Transport's blog, whether you're an EV lover or a traditional engine fan.