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Neha Kaushik

New Delhi , Feb. 12

DESPITE increasing implementation of environment-friendly technologies, the internal combustion engine is certainly not on its way out.

This was pointed out by Mr Hiroyuki Watanabe, Senior Managing Director and member of the board of Toyota Motor Corporation, who is in charge of development of new technology, including the fuel cell system vehicle and hybrid vehicles.

"I do not believe in the opinion that the internal combustion engine will be replaced by hybrids and then by fuel cell vehicles in the long run," Mr Watanabe told Business Line on the sidelines of a summit organised by The Energy and Resources Institute recently.

According to Mr Watanabe, while fuel cell systems offer higher efficiency than the gasoline-based engine, engines based on combination systems are going to be the order of the future. "Combination systems based on gasoline and fuel-cells offer the highest efficiency, which is what we at Toyota are also working on. So, internal combustion engines would not go away altogether but will be replaced by gasoline-hybrid vehicles," he said.

Mr Watanabe added that future engine technologies are likely to be based on energy storage systems.

In fact, with environment-friendly yet cost-efficient technologies increasingly in demand, hybrid vehicles are finding a sizeable market in the developed world. A case in point is the Toyota Prius, which is a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle. The car has received a good response in markets such as the US and Japan. The company globally is set to roll out a sports utility vehicle and full-size pick-up truck based on gasoline-electric hybrid systems.

More Stories on : Outlook | Cars

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