Talk of Tacoma powertrain upgrade from head guy at Toyota US...

It's amazing how light those 2.5 microns size of particulate are and how far they drift in the wind. Cancerous too.

 

High low end torque output?

In all fairness although I do slightly agree electric motors are just as powerful as diesels can be when it comes to low end torque. So in a way they could replace those applications where diesels would remain.

Just remember one thing, one of the biggest weight movers when it comes to transportation is freight trains, and contrary to what everyone thinks, they aren't actually diesel powered when it comes to driving the wheels. The diesel is just there for a generator, the drive to the wheels is done by DC electric motors, likely Series or Compound motors, and the ability to have dynamic braking from DC motors is amazing for slowing and stopping heavy loads. Although they also do use brakes in conjunction dynamic braking is whats often used for slowing them.

 

China’s New Electric Car Rules Are Amazingly Aggressive

https://www.technologyreview.com/th...-electric-car-rules-are-amazingly-aggressive/

China’s government has announced that any automaker producing or importing more than 30,000 cars in China must ensure 10 percent of them are all-electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen-powered by 2019. That number will rise to 12 percent in 2020.

 

IIRC those big dump trucks in mines are also diesel electric, diesel generator running electric motors.

 

I think China and India both also said by year 2025 they'll be completely renewable green energy.

Just wonder how much China will pollute in the process of getting there with all their coal fired electricity hahaha

 

I would be all over a hybrid Tacoma in a hot second.

I honestly can't believe there isn't already one.

 

Actually, no, it isn't "amazing". Not at all. You've bought into overblown nonsense. Congrats. If you hade common sense you would understand. But you buy into hype. I don't have time for that. Goodbye.

 

There is not likely ever going to be a V8. V8's are basically dead.

 

China is taking the lead in AI already.
Driverless cars are an offshoot of that technology.
Electric cars (computers on wheels) are tailor made for driverless technology.
Interesting times.
IMO, petroleum powered passenger vehicles are going away in the next 20 years. Hoping my Tacoma lasts longer than that, a little Red Barchetta action...lol

 

Then Utopia will almost be achieved. Everyone herded on mass transit. Everyone controlled. Enjoy your freedom while you have it, it won't be around much longer.

 

Some call it hype others call it science haha

 

It's really surprising to me they haven't. Hybrids are kind of Toyota's thing, and they have the leading truck in the segment. Why not combine the two?

If Toyota successfully put out a hybrid Tacoma that got markedly better mileage, it would likely be absolutely huge.

 

The particulates take a long time to settle. I'm (mostly) fine with the particulate emissions rules. I think that gasoline and diesel cars should be on relatively the same rules so we can make reasonable apples-to-apples comparisons between them.

There is some better biodiesel tech that came out recently from Finland - it basically produces low sulfur low particulate diesel from biomass, but doesn't have the fuel filter or gelling issues that conventional biodiesel has. I always thought it was promising, but a lot of regulators disagree with me there.

 

So, maybe not identical to diesel particulates, but I think the finer end of sawdust is in the same ballpark w/r/t particle size. I used to do woodworking in a small enclosed space because it's LA and (until recently) I didn't have a properly ventilated space. So I got a really nice air filter and went to work. Swept everything up neatly afterwards. A week later, there's a visible layer of super fine sawdust all over everything in the space I was doing work in. I don't think it's a stretch to say that those particles are going to take a similar length of time to settle coming out of the exhaust of a vehicle. In a place like LA where it doesn't rain for 10 months at a time, that's a lot of time for the particulate matter to wreak havoc.

 

Small displacement turbo hybrids is where the auto industry is headed , that and full electric

 

Are the 4Runners much worse on fuel than our trucks?

 

pretty sure they use the same 4L engine that the 2nd gens use. so probably. regardless its a 4L so not like its all that efficient

 

The use the next gen that was in the FJC, another 40 HP and IMHO, much smoother. [exhaust and intake valve timing.] Having driven both side by side, Toyota screwed up by not changing over to it in the Taco when they put it in the FJC.

 

I'm voting for small displacement turbo hybrid. Toyota had been competing in the hybrid prototype racing with a very powerful hybrid drivetrain hopefully some of that knowledge learned will trickle down to production cars

 

Are small displacement turbo engines as reliable as NA engines? I remember i watched a video of someone asking a ford tech which engine they would want in their truck and the vast majority said the v8 instead of the ecoboost engines...i will try to find it.

EDIT: found video

https://youtu.be/9nUCx5IQZro