By John LeBlanc
At next month’s Frankfurt auto show, Japan’s Toyota will be showcasing its past, present and future in hybrid vehicles, highlighted by the debut of the Toyota Yaris Hybrid R concept.
While you and I may think of the subcompact Toyota as a bottom feeding, low horsepower grocery-getter, Toyota has taken the car in a direction, frankly, no one would have considered. Using a two-door Yaris hatchback as a foundation, the Hybrid R uses a hybrid powertrian from the Germany-based Toyota Motorsport GmbH (the high-performance division that ran the automaker's F1 team and today's Le Mans racing efforts) combining a 1.6-litre four-cylinder gas engine and two electric motors for a total power output of more than 400 horsepower (about four times that of the current Canadian-market Yaris.) Also noteworthy: the Yaris Hybrid R employs the high-performance brake energy recovery system (that stores energy in a “super-capacitor” to provide a boost to the powertrain”) that was first seen on Toyota’s TS030 Hybrid Le Mans racer.
In a media release, Toyota says the Yaris Hybrid R is "a highly focused machine, designed to deliver maximum driving pleasure, both on road and track.” However, performance hybrid fans won’t likely ever get the chance to see the mega-horsepower Yaris in a Toyota showroom anytime soon. The Japanese automaker says the Frankfurt concept represents only "possible future hybrid development ideas that can deliver greater performance and driver rewards.” So while a hot hatch Yaris, with say 200 hp, may become a reality, Toyota says the concept’s super-capacitor is “suitable for use in a sports car.” Looking into my crystal ball, I can see this hyper-hybrid powertrain to end up either in a higher-performing version of the Scion FR-S sports car or the rumoured Toyota Supra replacement.
In addition to the Yaris Hybrid R, Toyota will also be highlighting its 16 years in the gas-electric hybrid vehicle business. Starting with the original, Japanese-market 1997 Toyota Prius, Toyota claims its “fleet” of hybrids currently numbers 23 different models around the globe, and have “saved” 12 billion litres of gasoline and 34 million tonnes of CO2 tailpipe emissions in that time.
All very impressive stuff from a saving-the-planet standpoint. But driving enthusiasts are more concerned about going quickly than saving a few trees. So can you see the day when “high-performance” in cars will also mean “hybrids”? Or will gas-only performance cars remain the barometre for sports car fans in the foreseeable future?
Source: Toyota
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