The prototype is the combination of a flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) that can be powered by both gasoline and alternative fuels such as ethanol, and Toyota's famous hybrid system which combines a combustion engine and an electrical powertrain.
Hybrid FFV is a new powertrain system that Toyota is developing with an aim to popularise hybrid electric vehicles in Brazil and contribute to the environment through reduction of CO2 emissions.
Hybrid FFV has the potential to drastically reduce total CO2 emissions as it is built on Toyota's hybrid system that has high energy efficiency and low emission levels and it also leverages the CO2 re-absorption capacity of ethanol, a plant-derived 100% renewable fuel. The prototype uses the Prius as a base model, which is currently sold and becoming popular in Brazil.
Toyota's initial studies indicated that Hybrid FFV has a great advantage in environmental performance compared to a standard FFV, when CO2 emissions is estimated starting with the extraction of the raw material, through its distribution at the fuel pumps to the ignition in the combustion process of the car. If it is fuelled only by sugarcane-based ethanol (E100 fuel), the results are better, said Toyota.
The development of Hybrid FFV represents one of Toyota's efforts to achieve its "Environmental Challenge 2050" where it challenges itself to reduce vehicle CO2 emissions by 90% in comparison with 2010 levels, by 2050. Toyota also targets to have more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles in its global new vehicle sales by 2030.
The prototype is expected to undergo more real-world road testing in Brazil to evaluate the system's reliability, durability, and powertrain performance.
Stakeholders in the project included the state government, universities, and the Sugarcane Industry Union.
