Toyota details powertrain advances in Gen4 Prius; available E-Four system for all-wheel drive

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by Spindifferent, Oct 13, 2015.

  1. Spindifferent

    Spindifferent Member

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    #1 Spindifferent, Oct 13, 2015
    San_Carlos_Jeff and HaroldW like this.
  2. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    Hmm, parallel motors instead of in-line with the crank. Adding those gears to run the PSD LOWERED mechanical losses? puzzled...
     
    #2 finman, Oct 13, 2015
  3. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Overall the number of gears were reduced. It went from 8 gears to 3.
     
    #3 usnavystgc, Oct 13, 2015
  4. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    Planetary gear systems are pumps and therefore have pretty large oil pumping losses. Each one also has 8 meshes for a 4-planet system. Planetary gearboxes are compact and can handle high torque, which is why they are used in wind turbine low speed stages (torques are in the millions of foot pounds). But these motors are pretty low torque and so maybe the advantages aren't there.
     
    #4 Lee Jay, Oct 13, 2015
  5. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    okay. i may have to conjure a side by side pic of Gen 3 HSD (the one without the chain) and this new Gen 4.
     
    #5 finman, Oct 13, 2015
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