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The Toyota Motor Corporation will license hybrid technology to the Ford Motor Company in an agreement that might aid in making Toyota’s system the industry standard.
To help defray its expensive development costs, Toyota has been attempting to market its hybrid technology to a number of different automakers. The two firms announced yesterday that Ford will incorporate the Toyota technology into a hybrid powertrain it plans to debut in a gasoline-electric version of its Escape sport utility vehicle later this year.
The Ford car would mark both the debut of hybrid technology in a S.U.V. and the first hybrid model made by an American automaker. Hybrid vehicles, which are propelled by a gasoline engine coupled with an electric motor, are more fuel-efficient and less polluting than cars with conventional gasoline engines.
Toyota, a Ford competitor in terms of volume of worldwide auto sales, has a commanding lead in the production of hybrid vehicles. With the release of the Prius vehicle in 1997, the automaker made hybrids available to the general public for the first time. Although sales volume for the most recent Prius is still modest when compared to more widely available models like the Camry, demand for the vehicle has been better than Toyota had anticipated.
The Toyota-Nissan Motor Company agreement to license Toyota’s gas-electric hybrid powertrain for use in vehicles that Nissan wants to sell in the United States by 2006 was followed by a similar agreement between Ford and Nissan in 2002.
Ford, meanwhile, leases much less technology than Nissan. Analysts believe it may be a while before hybrids become a substantial source of income given the high cost of producing the vehicles and their relatively modest sales volumes, despite Toyota’s claims that it generates money on its hybrid vehicles.
Last year, Toyota sold 53,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide, or less than 1% of its 6.07 million total vehicle sales.
Toyota’s patents are anticipated to make it more challenging for automakers to turn a profit. Nissan’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn, predicted that the Altima hybrid would not be profitable at a media presentation in Detroit in January.
It is not anticipated that Toyota’s licensing deal with Ford will significantly increase its revenue.
The significance of the agreement with Ford, according to auto expert Kurt Sanger of ING Securities in Tokyo, is that “Toyota is establishing the bar for the hybrid power train.”
Toyota is moving forward with its hybrid effort, according to Mr. Sanger.
According to the agreement made public yesterday, Toyota will grant Ford a license to use its proprietary hybrid control system, which connects an electric motor and a gasoline engine. The terms of the licensing deal and the amount of royalties Ford would be required to pay were kept secret by the firms. The businesses also agreed to license one another’s developed pollution reduction technologies.
American automakers have been less enthused about hybrid vehicles than their Japanese competitors up to this point, claiming that it is challenging to justifiably explain the increased expense of the technology when few American consumers seem concerned about fuel economy. Toyota and Honda have been the only automakers offering mass-market hybrid vehicles for a number of years. They are now the only businesses with firm plans to sell a variety of the cars.
The RX 400h, a hybrid version of Toyota’s Lexus RX 330 SUV, will be released in the US later this year. Toyota already sells a hybrid minivan in Japan. Additionally, Toyota intends to release a hybrid Highlander SUV in the US the following year. By the middle of the decade, it intends to produce 300,000 hybrid vehicles annually.
Honda, which sells the Insight and Civic Hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, also intends to produce a hybrid version of its Accord sedan.
Ford, Toyota, and Honda’s new hybrid models will cost more than the conventional gasoline-powered versions of the same cars, though the firms have not yet specified by how much.
In This Article...
Who manufactures Ford hybrid motors?
The 2.0-liter and 2.3-liter EcoBoost petrol engines, for which demand is still high, will also be produced in Valencia alongside the 2.5-liter Duratec hybrid engine, which is now built at Ford’s Chihuahua Engine Plant in Mexico.
Ford uses Toyota engines, right?
In June 2009, Akio Toyodathe grandson of Toyota’s founder Kiichiro Toyodabecame the company’s president. He was forced to deal with the recovery from Toyota’s largest loss in company history, which totaled $4.4 billion for the fiscal year, as a result of the Great Recession. Before he could even begin to put a dent in that horrifying statistic, he had to deal with a PR crisis brought on by the 2009 Lexus automobile that sped out of control, crashed, and killed all four occupants.
Millions of automobiles were recalled as a result of the unexpected acceleration disaster at Toyota and the linked fatalities that followed. Toyota chose to “halt everything and decrease fixed costs, including R&D expenses,” according to the Toyota Times in 2020. Toyota sprang from the ashes. Ford presented a partnership possibility, and in August 2011, Ford and Toyota proudly announced their agreement to create a new hybrid system for light trucks and SUVs.
Both businesses now offer 3.5-liter V6 hybrid truck engines. But not now, owing to that alliance. Let’s examine what led to that.
The proclaimed objective was to speed up the procedure and provide higher fuel efficiency for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. This made sense because Ford was engaged in its own post-recession struggles and Toyota was the clear leader in hybrid technology. Maybe by uniting their resources and expertise, these two titans could ride the wave of a rebuilding economy. It initially appeared to be a successful tactic that would prioritize serving customers. It appeared on the surface to be somewhat of a “you show me yours and I’ll show you mine exchange; in fact, as each player exchanged notes, the relationship began to crumble.
Then-Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally made the following statement at the beginning of the relationship: “By working together, we will be able to serve our customers with the very finest economical, cutting-edge powertrains, delivering even higher fuel economy. To address the major global concerns of energy independence and environmental sustainability, a coordinated effort like this is necessary.
On the other hand, Akio Toyoda stated that Toyota was “very proud” to work with Ford to develop a hybrid system for pickup trucks and SUVs. This partnership will undoubtedly improve cars, but it will also serve as a crucial cornerstone for American mobility in the future. Our goal is to be able to continue offering Americans vehicles that go above and beyond their expectations by establishing a global, long-term partnership with Ford.
After 18 months, the split was finalized. Toyota and Ford decided to work separately to develop new hybrid systems for light trucks and SUVs after completing their feasibility study together. This decision was made public in a press statement in July 2013. Which manufacturer gained more or whether they split off with new ideas is a little unclear.
It is evident that each corporation collected its toys and left at the end of the brief liaison. People are now discussing the fact that the 2021 F-150 and the 2022 Tundra both have twin-turbo hybrid V6 engines as of the launch of the 2022 Tundra. Coincidence? Actually, sure.
A 44 horsepower electric motor (and 221 pound-feet of torque) is mated to Ford’s 2021 hybrid F-150’s 394 horsepower and 492 pound-foot 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost engine. The maximum output is 430 horsepower and 570 lb-ft of torque combined. The brand-new 2022 Toyota Tundra, on the other hand, outperforms the Ford with an additional seven horsepower for a total of 437 generated by its 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid and outdoes the F-150 in torque by 13 for a total of 583 pound-feet.
Ford has the advantage when it comes to towing: the 2021 F-150 with a 3.5L V6 EcoBoost can pull up to 14,000 pounds with the max tow option. Toyota’s iForce Max has a maximum weight of 12,000 pounds, which is 2,000 pounds greater than the model from before.
When comparing battery capacity, the 1.5 kWh lithium-ion battery installed beneath the bed of the F-150 was put up against the 1.5 kWh nickel-metal hydride battery installed under the back seat of the Toyota. Ford promoted the 2021 F-150’s generator features and its capacity to run a number of electric tools or perhaps an entire house.
Even the displacement is different: the Tundra’s V6 iForce Max has a displacement of 3,445 cubic centimeters compared to the F-150’s EcoBoost’s 3,497. The EcoBoost’s compression ratio is 10.5:1, while the iForce Max’s is 10.4:1.
Toyota executives clear up any misconceptions regarding individuals who assert that Toyota is imitating Ford’s engine.
According to Toyota Product Communications Senior Analyst Josh Burns, “The i-Force and i-Force Max do share some basic architecture with the Lexus LS 500 twin-turbo V6, but the engineering team had to make significant changes so it can stand up to the higher average duty cycle demands placed on truck powertrains.” This indicates that factors such as increased cooling capacity, higher oil cooling capability, and even more oil volume will support a full-size vehicle application as well as its payload and towing requirements. The main goal was to make the engine more effective and efficient than the previous generation, but ultimately it must be a no-compromise engine. Our engineers successfully met this requirement.”
According to Toyota’s Joe Moses, the company’s research demonstrates that Tundra consumers are more likely to be active-outdoor enthusiasts than Ford’s F-150 work-truck buyers, and they are distancing themselves from any similarities. For instance, according to Mike Sweers, Chief Engineer for the Tundra at Toyota, their customers don’t want to pay more for a generator to be added to the truck (like Ford does for its full-size truck). He claimed that Toyota consumers could purchase their own generator and use it whenever and wherever they pleased for less money.
If the company is reading the market correctly, the V6 hybrid should see a respectable adoption, but for the time being, more of its truck buyers are likely to go for the gas-only V6 iForce.
The gas-only V6 has better fuel economy than previously, and both engines have greater towing capacities, so they appear to be on the right track. Toyota recently announced that it will invest around $3.4 billion in car batteries in the U.S. through 2030, putting a bow on its electrification pledge.
Currently, over 25% of Toyota’s U.S. sales are made up of electrified automobiles. By 2030, the business projects that percentage to reach close to 70%. Toyota will gradually increase its lineup of electrified vehicles (including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, and battery electric vehicles) from 55 models to around 70 models by 2025 in order to satisfy the rising demand.
Burns urged people to “look at the market and where it is heading. “With regard to emissions and fuel efficiency, we are all headed in the same direction.
Ford and Toyota: Are they related?
A partnership led by Ford Motor (F) and Toyota Motor (TM) has been established to hasten the adoption of open source software and to give users additional options for connecting to and managing their smartphone apps.
Why do you suppose Toyota granted Ford a technological license?
Ford Motor Company (Ford) and TokyoTOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) today announced the completion of licensing agreements for patents relating to hybrid systems and emissions purification.
According to the agreements, Ford was granted a license to use certain TMC hybrid system control technology patents as well as other TMC patents originating from the development of TMC’s hybrid system. Ford is currently working on its own hybrid system. The license’s terms and conditions have been mutually agreed upon by Ford and TMC.
Ford is still dedicated to making improvements to its fuel efficiency and emissions while maintaining the performance, safety, amenities, and convenience that customers have come to expect from the company. Ford will launch a hybrid-electric version of its well-liked Escape sport-utility vehicle this year, and its own hybrid system will come with more than 100 exclusive patents. When it is unveiled later this summer, it will be the first fully hybrid SUV ever.
TMC is dedicated to assisting in the preservation of the environment and has openly pursued a policy of broadly sharing its environmental technologies. TMC introduced the Toyota Prius as the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle in the world in 1997 and has since sold more than 200,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide. For instance, TMC and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. reached a fundamental agreement on the long-term, ongoing sale of hybrid systems, including technical cooperation, in 2002.
Hybrid cars are advancing in terms of driving performance. They have long been recognized for their environmental performance in terms of clean emissions and low CO2 output. As a result, their demand is rising as fresh, appealing cars for the twenty-first century.
Ford and TMC also reached a licensing agreement for a number of their respective patents related to lean-burn engine emissions purification. The three-way catalytic converter system from TMC for lean-burn engines, such as direct-injection gasoline or diesel engines, is covered by TMC patents leased to Ford and Ford Group entities. Ford patents on NOx control and Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) technology have been licensed to TMC and TMC group entities.
Toyota and Ford want to contribute to the protection of the environment by promoting their environmental technology both internally and by licensing them to other manufacturers upon request.
How does the hybrid system in Ford operate?
A gas engine and an electric motor are combined in hybrid technology, which alternates between the two or a combination of the two to maximize your drive. The battery, which does not require a plug, is recharged by the gas engine and regenerative braking.
Which automobile is superior? Ford or Toyota?
The response is highly debatable. Ford is reportedly the winner, although some reports contend Toyota is more dependable.
For instance, almost 90% of Ford cars received average or higher dependability ratings in Consumer Reports’ annual car reliability survey.
Only the Toyota Prius outperformed the Ford Fusion for Toyota when compared to the Ford vehicles, though.
Toyota is rated as being more reliable than Ford in the J.D. Power Vehicle Reliability Survey. Ford received a pitiful 3 out of 5 for reliability, compared to Toyota’s stellar 5 out of 5.
Going with the J. D. report seems more logical given that Toyota was identified as the manufacturer of vehicles with the longest lifespan in a separate report by Information Handling System (IHS) Automotive.
In addition, numerous Toyota models from the previous ten years, like the Tundra, Camry, and Avalon, are still in use today.
Are Ford hybrid vehicles trustworthy?
The Ford Fusion Hybrid 2020: How Reliable Is It? The estimated reliability rating for the 2020 Ford Fusion Hybrid is 87 out of 100. A predicted reliability score from J.D. Power of 91 to 100 is regarded as the best, 81 to 90 as great, 70 to 80 as medium, and 0-69 as fair and below average.