Development of Toyota's Transaxle for Mini-Van Hybrid Vehicles

Toyota introduced the world's first mass-produced hybrid passenger car, the Prius, in December 1997. In June 2001, Toyota developed the Toyota Hybrid System-CVT (THS-C). This new hybrid system for mini-vans was mounted on the Estima Hybrid.

A new transaxle was developed for the front drive unit of the THS-C system that is compact, lightweight, and highly efficient. The unit achieves excellent driving comfort with smooth speed change by CVT control. High-level driving power control is provided via a wet multiple disc clutch.

This paper introduces and explains the following aspects of the THS-C system:

1. 1.
   Compact and lightweight technologies
2. 2.
   High-efficiency technologies
3. 3.
   Electronic CVT and clutch control technologies.