5 months ago
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The new engines will be compatible with carbon-neutral fuels.
The three are teaming up to accelerate development and lower costs.
Toyota focusing on inline-fours, Subaru on boxers, and Mazda on rotary engines.
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Subaru, Toyota, and Mazda, agree that carbon is the enemy, collaborating on a ?multi-pathway? approach for the future of ICE.
Each company will keep developing its own ?signature? powertrain, including boxer (Subaru), in-line four (Toyota), and rotary (Mazda) units.
The new combustion engines will be tailored to electrification, while being compatible with different types of carbon-neutral fuels.
Toyota owns about a fifth of Subaru and roughly 5% of Mazda.
The joined ?multi-pathway approach? from Japan takes place amidst a global EV slowdown, showing that ICE still has a future in the automotive world.
Rather than engineering a common engine used by all three companies, the trio will work on "signature engines" that represent their respective brands. Specifically, Toyota is preparing new inline-fours, Mazda is pursuing rotary engines, and Subaru aims to improve the horizontally opposed boxer. The new powertrains will be compatible with several carbon-neutral fuels: liquid hydrogen, biofuel, and synthetic fuel.
With these engines, each of the three companies will aim to optimize integration with motors, batteries, and other electric drive units. While transforming vehicle packaging with more compact engines, these efforts will also decarbonize ICEs by making them compatible with various carbon-neutral (CN) fuels.
This mindset has driven efforts to ensure a future for the supply chains and jobs that underpin engines. Under the extreme conditions of racing, the companies have worked to broaden powertrain and fuel options by competing with vehicles running on liquid hydrogen and CN fuels.
This process has clarified the role that future engines will play in achieving carbon neutrality. With the next generation of engines, the three companies will seek to not only improve standalone engine performance but also optimize their integration with electric drive units, harnessing the advantages of each.
While being highly efficient and powerful, the new engines will also revolutionize vehicle packaging by being more compact than existing models. Smaller engines will allow for even lower hoods, improving design possibilities and aerodynamic performance while contributing to better fuel efficiency. The development will also emphasize compliance with increasingly strict emissions regulations.
At the same time, the new engines will be made carbon neutral by shifting away from fossil fuels and offering compatibility with various alternatives, including e-fuel (synthetic fuel), biofuels, and liquid hydrogen. In doing so, these engines will contribute to the broader adoption of CN fuels.
The new combustion engines are described as ?highly efficient and powerful?, promising to offer improved performance. They will also be smaller in size, allowing future models to have lower hoods and better aerodynamics. Finally, engineers will make sure that the mills comply with the increasingly strict emission regulations in different markets around the world. 
The official photos show a camouflaged prototype of the Crosstrek featuring Subaru?s next-gen hybrid system. Toyota showed a Prius prototype with a new 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine currently under development, in addition to a larger displacement 2.0-liter unit. On the other hand, Mazda exhibited its rotary-EV system featuring one or two rotors, which act as power generators.
