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Since 1970, Toyota Motor Corporation has achieved a total weight reduction of 34% in its overall charging and starting systems. This has been done in a variety of ways: the alternator, starter and battery, the major components of the systems, have been designed for optimal efficiency according to Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) principles; new machining technology has been developed for these components, and new lightweight raw materials have been used in their construction. In addition to these measures, the charging and starting units have been conceived as families so that their sizes could be reduced and significant reductions in weight achieved.

Toyota has been developing various environmentally friendly vehicles to address global environmental concerns. In 1996, Toyota started to sell the battery powered "RAV4" electric vehicle, and introduced the "e-com" in 1997. Late last year, Toyota launched production of the world's first hybrid vehicle, the "PRIUS", doubling the fuel efficiency and drastically reducing the emission of carbon dioxide. Toyota is also conducting research in the area of fuel cell electric vehicles. This paper explains the electric systems of these vehicles, i.e., motor, inverter, Ni-MH battery and control. Some of the technical problems will also be discussed