On average, nearly 7 of every 10 hybrids on the road are Toyota hybrids.
In 1999, when Kiichiro Yokota, who was over seventy years old, decided to drive the world's first mass-produced HEV model, the Toyota Prius, to cross five continents, he may not have imagined that the Toyota Prius, as a hybrid car, would perform better than a gasoline engine under the extreme test of harsh environments and complex road conditions such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the American jungle and the Sahara Desert.
At the same time, perhaps even more surprising to him, this technology, which was born at the end of the 20th century, will so quickly open up a "golden age" of a new category market in the early 21st century.
Yes, when Kiichiro Yokota spent 12 years practicing the prowess of the Prius equipped with Toyota hybrid technology to be able to handle road conditions in various regions, the Toyota HEV also showed an unimaginable speed of rise.
In the 24 years since the prius launched in 1997, Toyota HEV has built the largest scale of hybrid users in the history of the world's automobiles through a strong product lineup. Under the global lineup of 45 HEVs, Toyota's global sales of HEVs have exceeded 18 million. At the same time, with the gradual maturity of the market, the hybrid track ushered in more and more "peers", Toyota HEV is also in the context of increasingly fierce competition, and constantly set a record for the speed of sales growth.
Looking back at the sales mileage of 18 million vehicles, it can be seen that it took a full 10 years to complete the first 1 million vehicles, Toyota HEV to complete the second 1 million vehicles, Toyota HEV took three years; the last 1 million vehicles to complete 18 million vehicles, Toyota HEV only took 8 months. Looking at the current increasingly competitive hybrid automobile market competition environment, the reputation recognized by users is undoubtedly the key to Toyota's still maintaining the "C-bit hybrid" and champion strength.
It was for the Toyota Hybrid
How popular is the Toyota HEV in the Chinese automotive market, where the user needs are most diverse and the most stringent technical requirements? Perhaps such a set of data can prove that the cumulative sales of domestic HEV energy-saving passenger cars in 2020 will be 414,000 units, an increase of 40% year-on-year. In the sales ratio of the entire HEV energy-saving passenger car, Toyota HEV with a total of 210,000 units not only occupies half of the country, but also the dual engine version of Ralink and Corolla has won the first and second place in the domestic HEV market sales in 2020.
At present, the Toyota dual engine family camp, which is composed of more than 10 hybrid models, has accumulated more than 1.5 million market users for Toyota. In order to verify the user reputation of Toyota HEV technology, before writing, we also interviewed toyota dual engine owners, including Mr. Liu from Beijing, who is the owner of a 2021 Leiling dual engine 1.8H E-CVT sport version.
As we all know, when it comes to traffic jams, although Beijing has bid farewell to the title of the first "blocked city", the traffic pressure in the morning and evening rush hours is still large. So at the beginning of buying a car last year, Mr. Liu's car purchase budget was a very "family" budget.
"In this range, I am more inclined to use low-cost models, and at the same time I am more interested in Japanese hybrid technology, so at that time, the selection of cars was basically locked in the Japanese hybrid, and then in the consideration of Toyota and Honda, the appearance of toyota dual engines was slightly better, so I went to Toyota hybrid at that time, and later because GAC Toyota hybrid battery system is a lifetime warranty, and the overall styling design of the Ralink Sports Edition is more powerful than the ordinary version, so I chose this car now."
According to Mr. Liu, since the transaction was completed in December last year, this Leiling Sports Version Dual Engine is mainly used for daily transportation. In the process of using the car in this year or so, the "original intention" of the purchase of low use cost has also been satisfied.
According to Mr. Liu, "Basic morning and evening rush hour, the fuel consumption of this car is about 4.2-4.5L/100km, but I usually drive more fiercely, and I often drive to about 160-170Km/h on the highway, relatively speaking, it costs a little fuel, basically around 5.7L/100km, and the overall fuel consumption performance is still very satisfactory." ”
Of course, for a car, the economy of fuel consumption is only one of the factors that consider the cost of use, and in the process of using the car, maintenance is also an economic assessment standard that cannot be ignored.
"This year, the basic maintenance of this car is low in the family car, normal maintenance, but also very suitable for the attributes of the family." And the maintenance items, maintenance cycles, accessories and other prices of HEV models are almost the same as those of gasoline vehicles, and there is no need for special maintenance of the hybrid system. ”
However, in the process of communication, talking about the most surprising place of the 2021 Leiling Sport Dual Engine this year, Mr. Liu said: "This year almost ran more than 22,000 kilometers, usually most of them are driving in the urban area, the power output of the low and medium speed segment is sufficient, the throttle response speed is very fast, and in the acceleration process, the entire shift texture is very smooth, and there is no feeling of any bumps and impacts." Basically driving in the city, this car is very easy to drive. ”
"Although I usually drive this car alone, the comfort of the family car is comparable to the silence effect of an electric car, which is also very surprising to me." Indeed, under the empowerment of the TNGA architecture, through the intelligent and efficient control of the planetary gear structure and the PCU, whether it is in the start of acceleration or high-speed overtaking, this hybrid system can maintain the strength of the full speed domain, and the comprehensive advantages of electric drive and oil drive are maximized, which is the characteristic of all Toyota hybrids.
In addition, Toyota Hybrid's unique power shunt device can also effectively suppress noise when integrating oil and electricity power to bring more direct power transmission. As a representative of the quality reputation of mainstream joint venture brands, Toyota has a good reputation for quality and refinement since entering the Chinese market, as well as comfort.
The hybrid is just right in time, and the Toyota HEV is just strong
It is said that practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and under the joint affirmation of 18 million global car owners in 24 years, user reputation is undoubtedly the best test of Toyota HEV three-electric safety, car experience and TNGA architecture.
Based on this, standing at the transformation node of today's global automotive industry committed to low-carbon green travel, rather than saying that the sales volume of the energy-saving car market represented by hybrid has increased significantly in recent years, it is driven by the favorable consumer environment and industrial trends, but rather that this is Toyota HEV's personal practice in the past 24 years, with better than pure gasoline vehicle driving quality and worry-free experience, as well as the zero anxiety advantage that trams do not have at this stage, impressing the terminal consumer market.
Although the new energy vehicle market dominated by pure electric vehicles is accelerating to become an important direction for the strategic transformation of major OEMs, the quality sense of pure electric driving has also continuously changed the absolute attitude of many market consumer groups, but from the current majority of consumer groups are still due to battery life anxiety, three electric safety anxiety, and charging anxiety of conservative wait-and-see psychology, the energy-saving vehicles represented by Toyota HEV are the mainstream of demand at this stage.
Previously, in the "Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0" released by the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, it was clearly proposed that by 2035, the automobile industry should achieve electrification transformation, and all traditional energy-powered passenger cars will be hybrid, and the sales of energy-saving vehicles and new energy vehicles will account for 50% each. That is to say, within the next 15 years, in order to achieve a steady transformation of industrial electrification, energy-saving vehicles will go hand in hand with new energy vehicles with two-wheel drive.
Since the beginning of this year, it can indeed be seen that under the agitation of hybrid vehicles represented by Toyota HEV, the mainstream car companies in China's auto industry have almost invariably "hybridized" all their staff, in addition to BYD, Great Wall, Changan, Geely, Chery and other independent brands to accelerate the entry, ultra-luxury brands such as Lamborghini also announced earlier that they will achieve full hybridization of all Lamborghini product lines by the end of 2024.
From this dimension, Toyota, which has the largest scale of hybrid users, is a pioneer in the history of hybrid vehicles, and it is also a leader in the booming period of the hybrid market. It is understood that in the process of precipitation of 18 million sales in 24 years, Toyota HEV has not had a case of electric shock caused by a vehicle accident and battery explosion and combustion.
At the same time, the battery life is long and attenuated. Toyota HEV battery has good fast charge and discharge performance, its "shallow charging" battery management strategy, can greatly extend its service life, charge and discharge cycle times up to more than 10,000 times.
According to the US "Consumer Report", compared with the new car, the Prius, which has been driving 330,000 kilometers for 10 years, still maintains the same level of battery performance and does not undergo significant attenuation, which shows the safety and reliability of Toyota's three-electric system. Under the vision of green and low carbon, 18 million Toyota HEVs have reduced the consumption of gasoline by a total of 52 billion liters and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 140 million tons.
For Toyota HEV, which has passed the double test of time and the market, even if the Chinese auto market has entered the era of stock, the hybrid is just right, and the Toyota HEV is also strong.
Red dot observation:
If the trust of 18 million users has allowed Toyota HEV to shape the image of "pioneer" in the hybrid market, then in the context of today's electrification transformation challenges and increasingly obvious market quality needs, this market performance and the reputation of the current user market will inevitably prove toyota HEV's "leader" posture again.