The next generation of one of the most acclaimed Japanese sports cars will be hybrid. After the Honda NSX, it's the Toyota Supra's turn to follow this path.
Toyota assumes itself as one of the leading brands in the offer of hybrid models, so it will come as no surprise to anyone that the next generation Supra combines an electric motorization with a combustion engine. Information that so far lacked official confirmation from the brand, but that a video posted on Youtube (at the end of the article) made a point of clarifying: the next Toyota Supra will indeed be a hybrid.RELATED: This Toyota Supra covered 837,000 km without starting the engine
Knowing that the new Supra will be hybrid, now the big question is what will be the mechanical scheme adopted by the Japanese brand. Will the electric motors be directly coupled to the transmission and combustion engine or will they work autonomously? Will they transmit power to the rear wheels or the front wheels? How many electric motors will it be, one or two? We do not know. But judging by the engine layout, the next Toyota Supra is likely to adopt a sequence-mounted hybrid system (combustion engine, electric motor and gearbox) freeing up space at the rear for mounting the batteries – in any case. guaranteed to be a completely different scheme from the solution found by Honda in the new NSX.
The truth is that Toyota has enveloped the development of the Toyota Supra in the utmost secrecy. Partly because it doesn't want to release information ahead of time, and partly because a new BMW model will also be born from the platform of the new Supra and Toyota doesn't want to question the position of the Bavarian brand. The two brands have been working in partnership and neither wants to be responsible for revealing information to outside competitors.
As we mentioned earlier, despite all the secrecy, the Toyota Supra was still caught leaving the BMW M Test Center in Germany. Location where a team of Toyota engineers has carried out dynamic tests on a test prototype.
Note that the Supra prototype leaves the test center in 100% electric mode and shortly after turns on the combustion engine, which by the noise could be a V6 unit. We'll see…