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Automotive

Toyota previews 400-hp Hybrid-R Concept ahead of Frankfurt Motor Show

By C.C. Weiss
August 15, 2013
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Teaser photo of the Toyota Hybrid-R Concept
Teaser photo of the Toyota Hybrid-R Concept
The TS030 at Le Mans
The TS030 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
The TS030 race car's hybrid layout
The TS030 uses an electric motor to augment the 530-hp engine
View gallery - 5 images

Next month's Frankfurt Motor Show is approaching quickly, and automakers around the world are providing a glimpse at what we can expect. Among Toyota's offerings will be a new hybrid concept that applies race technology to the streets through a combination of fuel savings and performance punch – the Hybrid-R.

Performance hybrids promise to be a big story at the Frankfurt show. BMW has confirmed its intention to reveal the production i8 at the show. The Porsche 918 Spyder is due to hit production next month, and it's anticipated that Stuttgart will join Munich in showing its top-tiered hybrid in Frankfurt.

Toyota isn't about to let the German production sports cars have all the fun. Its Hybrid-R Concept will showcase a dual-mode powertrain with a gas engine and electric motors. While the specific composition and layout of that powertrain remains unspecified, Toyota does say that it can put out a total of more than 400 hp. The two modes provide performance tailored for road and track.

The TS030 uses an electric motor to augment the 530-hp engine

The hybrid powertrain of the concept is based on the one that underpins the TS030 Hybrid race car that Toyota Racing entered into the FIA World Endurance Championships and drove at this year's Goodwood festival. The TS030's Toyota Hybrid System uses a naturally aspirated 530-hp V8 engine to drive the rear wheels. Energy recovered during braking is stored in a super capacitor located next to the driver. That stored energy provides up to 300 hp worth of boosting power when sent to the rear wheels via an electric motor mounted in the gearbox case.

Toyota will reveal the Hybrid-R Concept at a press conference on September 10. Gizmag will be on the floor of the Frankfurt Motor Show, bringing all the latest auto and car tech news.

Source: Toyota

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AutomotiveConcept CarsHybridToyotaFrankfurt Motor Show 2013
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C.C. Weiss
Chris joined the New Atlas team in 2011 and now serves as the automotive and campers editor, traveling extensively to gather the latest news on cars, outdoor sports gear and other innovations designed to help people experience and enjoy the greater world around them.
8 comments
Pin
Why do these big manufacturer designers insist that hybrid/electric cars must look weird and garish. This teaser pic looks like they're following BMW in their i3/i8 design.
Just make the damn thing look good and maybe people will want to buy it more.
myale
Again another story of how wonderfully powerful we can make electric /hybrid vehicles - perhaps I am a minority who doesnt care about ultra performance - I just want 200mpg and a reasonable acceptable performance
BigGoofyGuy
IMO; hybrid and performance are opposites. Is it really necessary to put such a big engine in a hybrid? Isn't the purpose of a hybrid to have great MPG?
It would be nice to have an affordable hybrid.
stlrat
to myale and BigWarpGuy. Without the ultra performance "Hybrid", the funding for research and development for the consumer hybrid would be very little to none. The technology that goes into creating a hybrid is not cheap; and the research and development for improving the technology is not cheap. Thats why hybrids cost so much. People who can afford ultra performance cars dont care about mpg! So the only way to get them to fund the technology, and make it cheaper, is to produce something for them that they want. Every penny that they spend on research in increasing performance, trickles down to you, the average consumer, in savings off the total cost of the technology. So you should be supporting their efforts because it only benefits you in the long run.
Don Duncan
myale & B.W.G.: You're correct. And the vast majority agree. I have waited 45 years, wondering what is wrong with the car makers. I thought Aptera was going to follow the blueprint created by RMI (hypercar) but they fumbled the ball on the 1 yard line.
stlrat: The car companies spend billions on pissing contests and then claim they can't afford to spend millions on light weighting and aerodynamics.
Bruce Williams
My wife drives what she considers the best car we've ever owned. Her Lexus LS600hL combines ultra luxury with amazing performance. The 200 mpg car is great for it's primary mission but there will always be a market for high performance automobiles. One that gets reasonable mileage while at the track is that much more enjoyable. I agree with stlrat. New technology is expensive and it does benefit the entire line of automobiles from the flagship down to the entry level. Look at radar cruise control and keyless ignition, for example, now available on mid priced cars. Their time has finally come and engineers are designing cars rather than accountants and lawyers.
Slowburn
re; BigWarpGuy
Add expensive batteries and expensive motors does not make for cost effective cars.
myale
Yup agree the situation at the minute is that manufacturers (in the west) are fixated with the minority high value and then to trickle down into the majority low value - same as wars tend to generate massive leaps in technology and innoation - does not mean that it should be the way it is - without change and challenging the way this are - you are merely a rolling wheel in history, rather than a bump that alters the direction or flow. Personally I thnk there needs to be a bump.
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