Toyota Plans Electric Sports Car
#1
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
Toyota Plans Electric Sports Car
Toyota is plotting an all-electric sports car to rival Tesla as part of a host of new performance models planned in the coming years.
Naohiko Saito, Toyota’s handling guru, has said the electric powertrain previewed in the Toyota 2000GT EV at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is “an early part of the development process involved in refining the technology”. He added that the technology would be seen 1st in a city car before being developed for a sports car.
That could involve mating a manual gearbox to the electric drivetrain, something which is being developed in the 2000GT EV. It channels power through an electric motor and works in conjunction with an inverter that alters torque levels being sent to the wheels depending on the ratio chosen.
Hiroyuki Ogawa, Toyota’s advanced drivetrain engineering chief, said there was “a desire to use a manual gearbox in our electric and hybrid sports cars”.
He added the CVT gearbox was “efficient but not fun”, and the manual ’box “promises much better feel for the driver”. A production manual hybrid from Toyota is at least 3 years away, he confirmed.
Last edited by GS69; 07-12-12 at 11:08 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
GFerg
Car Chat
1
05-26-15 02:00 PM
GFerg
Car Chat
11
05-03-05 05:54 PM