Toyota is hoping to achieve a 10% improvement in the fuel efficiency of its hybrid models with the introduction of new technology.

The Japanese brand is using new power semiconductor technology which governs the flow of electricity from the battery to the electric motor, and sends electricity generated under braking and deceleration to the battery for storage.

Semiconductors can account for up to 20% in total electric power losses in hybrid vehicles and Toyota will now be using a new silicon carbide compound (SiC) to reduce the energy losses. It also means it can reduce the size of its hybrids’ power control unit by approximately 80%.

Toyota has developed the technology in-house in partnership with Denso and aims to test its performance in public road trials within the year.

Prototype hybrids using SiC power semiconductors have already indicated an improvement of more than 5%.