Hybrid cars have always been considered to have lower performance and speed than Internal Combustion Engine based cars. Not any more. Toyota Team SARD’s Supra HV-R hybrid racecar won the Tokachi 24-hour race last weekend and became the first hybrid car to win such a competition.
Last year, with the Lexus GS 450, Toyota became the first auto manufacturer to enter a hybrid vehicle into the Tokachi 24-hour race. The car finished 17th overall, but the main concern then was to finish the ‘endurance race’. This year, the Supra HV-R clinched the title.
This car is based on the Supra-GT, used in Super GT races in Japan. A four-wheel energy regeneration and drive system is used which includes two 10kW in-wheel motors in the front wheels and one 150kW rear-axle mounted electric motor. With support from these three motors/generators, the vehicle can recover a greater amount of energy during rapid deceleration and braking from high speeds, with greater efficiency.
In addition, since racing requires quick acceleration and deceleration, a quick charging capacitor system was used instead of the conventional rechargeable batteries. This vehicle is a marvel of modern day engineering.
Toyota completed 616 laps in 24 hours, 19 more than its nearest competitor did. By bringing hybrid cars into the racing arena, engineers at Toyota hope to discover ways to make the hybrids lighter, more efficient and capable of delivering greater performance.
Supra HV-R can be considered as a benchmark in engineering for hybrid vehicles. Chances that it will go into production are low, but it has successfully proved its point. Conventional cars beware; hybrid technology is catching up, and fast.
[Source: SARD]
