Text/Civil
Japanese cars have always been fuel-efficient and durable as the core selling point, but as a country with scarce resources, Japanese car companies will certainly not stop studying more fuel-efficient solutions, and the hybrid system was born for this purpose. At the same time, in the demand for cars in Chinese households, fuel saving is also an important reference indicator. In 2021, China's hybrid vehicle production will be about 688,900 units, an increase of 35.3% year-on-year, and hybrid vehicle sales will be 668,700 units, an increase of 34% year-on-year.
As the originator of hybrid vehicles, Toyota's hybrid models have always attracted everyone's attention, and GAC Toyota's hybrid models will sell 175,633 units in 2021, accounting for more than 20% of sales, ranking first among mainstream joint venture car companies. In 2022, GAC Toyota plans to achieve sales of 301,000 hybrid models, an increase of more than 70% year-on-year.
After the major brands have joined the market of hybrid models, what is the basis for Toyota to achieve good sales, and can it still sit in the front row with its own hybrid technology? As a consumer, Toyota Hybrid is not really as fuel-efficient and practical as advertised by manufacturers, and we will conduct a detailed analysis of Toyota's hybrid technology THS below.
Toyota's hybrid system is officially named THS (Toyota Hybrid System), and although it has undergone many adjustments, the basic logic has not changed, so it is still the second generation of THS-II.
Composition of Toyota hybrid system: The system includes an Atkinson cycle engine, an E-CVT transmission, a PCU, a battery pack, and other components, and the E-CVT transmission is formed by combining two motors with a stepless transmission mechanism with a planetary gear set.
The most important of these is the power shunting through the planetary gear set, the structure of this part is that the engine, generator, and motor are coupled together through a planetary row, the generator is connected with the sun wheel, the engine is connected to the planetary frame, the motor is connected to the outer gear ring and connected to the main reducer and the wheel end.
Based on this planetary row, there are the following characteristics: three sets of gears mesh with each other, can not rotate independently, the transmission ratio between the three gears is fixed, the rotation of any one gear will drive the rotation of other gears, but can lock the sun wheel or planetary frame in it does not move, and the other two are transmitted.
THS simply has two main working modes:
1, pure electric mode: the planetary frame connected to the engine is not rotating, the motor speed is proportional to the speed of the vehicle, due to the large friction of the engine, the engine will not rotate, but the generator will be reversed. However, after reaching a certain speed (about 40km/h), the engine will start.
2. Hybrid mode: the engine, generator and motor work at the same time, the engine output torque, the generator controls the engine speed, and the motor speed corresponds to the vehicle speed. By adjusting the speed and load of the generator, the engine can be controlled in an efficient speed and load range.
Although the entire system structure is not a problem, fuel-efficient and smooth, it is impossible to deliver all the power of the three power sources to the wheels, so its performance is not good.
So Toyota upgraded the second-generation technology THS-II. The main change of the second generation is: from the previous coaxial arrangement to the structure of the balance shaft, that is, the original three power sources are arranged in parallel and side, which becomes the motor side-positioned, and the external gear of the planetary frame is meshed by the reduction gear, so that the power of the motor can be directly increased to improve the short board of power.
At the same time, because the current domestic market for plug-in hybrid models is also huge, Toyota has also launched a plug-in hybrid power system, adding a one-way clutch on the basis of the original, which can prevent the engine from rotating backwards, but allows the engine to rotate forward to achieve unidirectional transmission of power. Therefore, in pure electric mode, dual motor drive can be realized, and the power performance is better.
Then as a consumer, theory is always theory, the actual experience is of course more important, we collected some feedback from hybrid owners on the Internet to come to the following conclusions:
The first is the performance of fuel consumption, taking the Toyota Corolla as an example, by comparing the data of each car owner. The fuel tank volume of the gasoline-electric hybrid version is 43 liters, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of 100 kilometers is 4 liters. In terms of urban conditions, the average fuel consumption of 100 kilometers is about 4.4L, and a tank of fuel can run about 977 kilometers, if it is interspersed with high speed, it is easy to go up to 1000 kilometers. In the same configuration, the 1.5L displacement Toyota Corolla pure fuel version, the fuel consumption of 100 kilometers is about 7 liters, that is to say, with the same 43 liters of gasoline, the pure fuel version can only run about 614 kilometers.
Then there's the driving experience, where most car owners report that the overall ride experience will be better. Because when the oil-electric hybrid car starts at a low speed, in order to avoid the engine working in the low efficiency range of low speed and low load, it is usually driven by an electric motor. The advantage of the motor is that it is responsive and starts quickly, while taking into account both quietness and fluency. In the case of urban road congestion, the frequent braking and starting of fuel vehicles have a great impact on fuel consumption and noise, and the motor of the hybrid vehicle has obvious advantages.
summary:
At present, the hybrid model is still very marketable, Toyota's hybrid system through a precision planetary gear structure, indeed can be fuel consumption, smoothness and other aspects of the obvious improvement, through the owner feedback will indeed be more fuel-efficient, as for the price more than the fuel car needs to be the consumer's own situation judgment choice.