Toyota working on new semiconductor chips to boost fuel economy of hybrid vehicles

Toyota is said to be working on new semiconductor chips that could, boost hybrid fuel economy by 10 per cent theoretically.

According to Automotive News, the automaker had already achieved a 5 per cent gain in fuel economy in test vehicles using the new semiconductors and aimed to bring the technology to market by 2020.

The report said the increase in efficiency came with improved semiconductors that manage the flow of electricity through the power control unit (PCU) integrating a hybrid vehicle's battery, motor and generator.

The new semiconductors which only consume 10 per cent of the energy of today's chips allow the PCU to be 80 per cent smaller, Toyota engineers said at a briefing Friday.

The technology had the potential to deliver 10-per cent better fuel efficiency due to less loss of energy when the battery powered the car's electric motor or when the regenerative brakes recharged the battery.

According to Toyota's Kimimori Hamada, who manages the project at Toyota's electronics development division, one of the keys to improving fuel efficiency was improving power semiconductor efficiency.

PCUs play a vital role in hybrid electric and other vehicles with electric powertrains supplying electrical power from the battery to the motor to control vehicle speed, Drives & Controls reported.

The units also send energy recovered during braking to the battery for storage.

In hybrid vehicles the units account for around 25 per cent of the total electrical power losses with an estimated 20 per cent of this being associated with the power semiconductors. Improving semiconductor efficiency was therefore a key to improving fuel efficiency.

Since the launch of its Prius petrol-electric HV in 1997, Toyota had been working on the development of power semiconductors and to improve HV fuel efficiency.

Toyota recently established a clean room facility dedicated to the development of SiC semiconductors used in PCUs. The company considers efficiency of power semiconductors as a key to fuel efficiency for HVs and other vehicles featuring electric powertrains.

According to the company it would continue to boost development activities aimed at early implementation of SiC power semiconductors.