Key Sources:
BYD Auto's official website introduces the DM-i super hybrid technology
Douyin Encyclopedia BYD Seal DM-i
Preface
Toyota Motor Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer of hybrid vehicles, and its hybrid technology has always been a global leader.
However, in recent years, BYD has broken the Japanese monopoly with its excellent hybrid technology, making Toyota's hybrid patent containment invalid.
So, how good is BYD's hybrid technology, which breaks through Toyota's patent?
DM-i super hybrid technology
At present, BYD, as a leading domestic automobile company, has launched many innovative products and technologies in recent years.
One of the most well-known is the BYD DMi power system.
It is also relying on the "DMi super hybrid technology" that BYD won the first place in domestic sales, and the annual sales in 2023 will reach 3.024 million units.
The revenue has reached 602.3 billion, and the profit has reached 30 billion, which is precisely because of the effect of BYD's advantages in technology.
So, as BYD's absolute core technology DMi power system, how good is this technology?
BYD's DMi powertrain is also known as a dual-mode intelligent hybrid system.
The reason why it is called dual-mode is that the DMi power system uses two high-performance electric motors and a high-efficiency engine, so it forms the "DMi power system".
BYD, after adopting the DMi hybrid system, BYD's cars have been greatly improved in all aspects.
This power system not only realizes the seamless switching of the three modes through intelligent control, but also ensures the cruising range of BYD cars, and the fuel consumption and emissions are also reduced very low.
These three modes are pure electric, hybrid, and direct drive, and it can be said that the power system of this DMi can top three with one, which can be said to be far ahead in hybrid technology.
And it can also be more suitable for the current new energy vehicle market, which is a real "super hybrid technology".
As the core of Dmi's power system, it is the "high-efficiency engine", which benefits from BYD's innovation and research in the engine.
Thanks to the "high-efficiency engine" developed by BYD, the power generation efficiency of cars using the DMi power system is significantly ahead of other similar products in terms of power generation efficiency per liter of gasoline.
Even in this regard, the efficiency surpasses that of diesel generator sets!
You must know that diesel generator sets, because diesel has the characteristics of not easy to volatile, large tools, and high ignition point, so the thermal efficiency of diesel is much higher than that of gasoline, and the ability to release more oil than gasoline is to burn the same quality of oil.
BYD's DMi power system can even be compared to diesel engines, so you can see how good BYD's hybrid technology is!
After testing and analysis, the power generation efficiency of each liter of oil in a car using BYD DMi engine can be about 3.3 kWh when generating electricity in situ.
Not only that, but if you are driving normally on the road, when braking and going downhill, the electric motor is used to generate braking force to recover energy and store it in the battery.
Therefore, the power generation efficiency of cars using BYD's DMi power system has even reached about 3.5 degrees per liter.
This efficiency has far exceeded that of ordinary automobile generators, and has reached the level of diesel generator sets.
Moreover, the engine system is a 1.5-litre inline-four turbocharged engine, which uses very advanced technology, and it is because of the combination of these technologies that this powertrain is thermally efficient up to 43%.
That's 41% of Toyota's 2.5-liter hybrid, the world's best petrol engine.
Therefore, BYD is the world's leading level in hybrid technology.
However, Toyota, which has the most thermal efficiency of gasoline engines, has made global car companies suffer.
How did Toyota make global car companies suffer?
Planetary gears
Toyota's Prius is Toyota's first hybrid car and a representative of Toyota's hybrid technology.
Once this car was launched, it was widely acclaimed, selling millions of units in 20 years, and also made Toyota the absolute hegemon of global hybrid technology, directly monopolizing 80% of the global hybrid market.
And on this car, a very magical device is used.
The name of this device is "planetary gear", and the Toyota Prius has achieved ultra-low fuel consumption and ultra-high endurance through this device.
This magical "planetary gear" allows the engine and electric motor to switch seamlessly, thus providing the Prius with the best power output and greatly increasing the range.
At that time, the Prius only consumed 4.2 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, and the range of a full tank could even exceed 900 kilometers.
It is precisely because of this car that Toyota in Japan has become a benchmark for "energy saving, environmental protection, money saving and fuel saving".
In fact, Toyota was not only very ahead of other peers in technology at that time, but also thought more than other car companies.
Especially in the patented technology, we have made a long-term layout.
Toyota registered a patent for "planetary gears", which is why planetary gears are considered "core patents in the field of hybrid vehicles"
This patent is not only a gear structure, but also an inherited technology that integrates the engine, electric motor and gearbox.
Through this technology, Toyota has also become an absolute leader in the field of hybrid vehicles.
Since Toyota has registered a patent for this technology, other car companies have only two options if they want to break through hybrid cars.
- That is to take the money, if you want to use Toyota's patented technology, then it is equivalent to working for Toyota, and you need to pay Toyota a high patent fee.
- Spend your own money on research and development, and you can't use any patented technology related to "planetary gear", otherwise it is a patent infringement.
Not only do you have to pay royalties to Toyota, but you also have to pay fines.
As a result, Toyota has built a "high wall" in the field of hybrid technology, which restricts the development of other car companies in this way.
Obviously it's just a normal registered patent, why do you say that Toyota thinks a lot?
Toyota's patented high wall
In fact, when Toyota registered a patent, it did not just register the patented technology related to "planetary gears".
Instead, a strategy called the "patent cluster" is used to register patents.
The core method of registering a patent in the "patent group" is to use a core patented design, and then apply for it with other patented technologies that support the patent.
In other words, when Toyota registered, it was registered together with other auxiliary patents each time, so a large patent network was formed, and finally around the "planetary gear", Toyota registered more than 23,740 patented technologies.
This patent not only covers all kinds of details about hybrid technology, but even some parts are registered with small parts next to them.
This method makes it difficult for other car companies to break through Toyota's patented design, and they will be "infringed" if they are not careful.
Toyota has also split the patented technology of "planetary gears".
Because the patent of "planetary gear" only needs to combine its gear set, gearbox, and reducer, and adjust some design schemes.
For example, some places with slightly different parameters and positions can be used by other Toyota models, so as to achieve a good hybrid effect.
The purpose of this is very simple, first, to meet the needs of their own future models, and second, to allow themselves to have more patented designs.
Therefore, even if other car companies want to imitate or improve, they have to double, and Toyota does not have a patent for "imitation" in the end.
Therefore, under the strategy of such a "patent group", Toyota has basically formed a monopoly on advanced hybrid technology, so it has also brought more sales to Toyota.
Although, in terms of hybrid technology, it is necessary to face Toyota's "patent group" tactics.
But BYD still broke through Toyota's patent in its own way!
How did BYD break through?
BYD broke through
In the face of Toyota's unkind malicious monopoly, car companies around the world have no way to take Toyota.
However, BYD, a manufacturer that started with battery technology, began to enter the automotive field after acquiring Qinchuan Automobile 20 years ago.
BYD, as a "rising star" in the automotive field, has a momentum, relying on this momentum.
In the field of technology, BYD has increased its research and development efforts, although at the beginning it will encounter the problem of Toyota's blockade of patented technology.
But BYD is also very smart, using a special method in hybrid technology, completely bypassing Toyota's technology in hybridization, and also successfully overtaking in hybrid technology.
The reason for overtaking is precisely because of BYD's "old business", that is, the battery!
Therefore, BYD started from the field it is best at, and came up with a set of hybrid technology solutions supplemented by electricity.
To put it simply, it is a solution that drives the car between the motors and then uses the engine as an auxiliary role.
The advantage of this solution is that when the vehicle has enough electricity, the pure electric mode is turned on, and the engine is turned off.
Therefore, when driving with a little force, not a drop of oil will be lost, which is very suitable for the current situation of only driving in the city, basically only need to flush the electricity, can meet the daily use.
If the electricity is gone, the engine starts working, and the engine can charge the battery while working, improving the range.
When a more powerful power output is required, the electric motor starts together with the engine, i.e. in hybrid mode.
Officially, because of such a design, BYD successfully broke through Toyota's blockade, and also walked out of its own technical route.
And this technical route has been very successful.
From the first-generation DM hybrid technology in 2008 to the current DMI super hybrid technology, BYD has been optimizing and updating this powertrain, but BYD prefers to call this "plug-in hybrid".
This is the key to BYD's breakthrough of Toyota's patent, in general, it still has to rely on self-development!
Only self-developed things can make their own enterprises develop better and better, and their strength will become stronger and stronger.
conclusion
In the face of Toyota's patent wall, BYD successfully broke through and walked out of its own hybrid technology route.
Moreover, DMI technology also has an intelligent assisted driving system, which can automatically identify traffic signals and road conditions, and automatically adjust the driving status and power output of the vehicle, so as to improve the safety and convenience of driving.
In general, BYD's DMI technology is an advanced technology with many advantages and characteristics, which has found a good balance between fuel vehicles and electric vehicles, and represents an important direction for future automobile development.
Key Sources:
BYD Auto's official website introduces the DM-i super hybrid technology
Autohome What is BYD DM-i super hybrid technology
Douyin Encyclopedia BYD Seal DM-i
Toyota China Official Website Toyota will provide free of charge the patent rights to use the core electrification technology that it has accumulated through the development of hybrid technology - involving approximately 23,740 patents