Alliances Along the Hybrid Highway

While the conventional internal combustion engines that have powered cars, trucks and SUVs for many decades will continue to be popular, car buyers are demanding alternatives. Thanks to an improvement in hybrid technology, there are currently three hybrid models on the market and many others coming. Combined with a concern for our planet's well being and the relatively limited supply of fossil fuels, hybrid propulsion promises to become an integral part of the automotive landscape.

Synergetic
Bringing such a high profile and significant new technology to the mainstream is no easy accomplishment. Clearly, this has required a substantial financial commitment from all companies involved. Sometimes, these companies go it alone. But increasingly, unexpected partnerships are being forged to bring hybrid vehicles to market.


Nowhere is this story more compelling than at Toyota, where innovations and alliances are giving other companies access to the industry's technology leader. It was 1997 when Toyota debuted the Prius in Japan as the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. This came after a period of intense development earlier in the decade when many automakers were examining hybrid, battery electric, and fuel cell technologies, some destined for near-term products and others for products to debut years down the road.


Following the successful introduction of the Prius in Japan, and then in the U.S. and Europe, Toyota's hybrid program continued to evolve. Toyota developed two entirely different hybrid powerplants for a pair of vehicles in Japan, a full hybrid system for the Estima minivan and a mild hybrid system for the Crown sedan.


Now, the company's new hybrid technology, called Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), brings even greater performance and efficiencies to the highway with the debut of the all-new 2004 Prius, and as HSD powers other Toyota and Lexus models in the near future.