How do I get an invention to Toyota?

You would have to prove it works first.

Talk to a patent attorney.

Jeff

That is *IF* and a very big *IF* at that he could get Toyota or anyone else to even talk to him.

Any corporation that might look at this would require a) that official and public disclosers be made and b) also require an agreement that basically protected the company and left him out in the cold.

At one time I ran the unsolicited idea submission program for a major Japanese player. Very few got to the fill out this form stage as the IPR (intellectual property rights) risk are just too great.

No, because they could be sued for plagerism if they came out with something even remotely similar to yours, whether they intentionally or unintentionally copied you or even invented it completely on their own.

Another problem is that >99% of the submitted ideas don't work as claimed.

When I worked for Toyota, I often got inquiries from people with ideas that were going to make a quantum leap in engine efficiency or horsepower, and when I listened to those ideas, there was a major flaw in the idea.

Toyota gasoline engines get anywhere from 15 to 40 MPG, so you are talking about anywhere from 20 to 100% increase in fuel economy without any loss in horsepower. That would be a quantum leap in power plant efficiency. The "might get a 10-15 MPG increase..." part makes me think that you are pulling figures out of the air as opposed to from the results of design studies or mathematical modeling, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and share what automakers are looking for in power plant design.

For an automaker to be interested in a power plant design, it has to be commercially viable, and for a power plant design to be commercially viable, it has to:

- be relatively easy to produce;

- cost roughly the same to produce as current drivetrains;

- use materials that are readily available;

- be as durable as existing internal combustion engines;

- be as cost effective and as easy to maintain and repair as current powertrains;

- use fuel or an energy source that is the same cost or less expensive than current energy sources or is renewable ("green");

- use fuel or an energy source that is readily available;

- have an operating range (distance) that consumers will accept;

- meet strict emissions requirements;

- operate and perform well under a wide range of environments, from well below zero to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in rain, sleet, snow, and in arid conditions;

- offer reasonable acceleration and steady cruising for long periods of time;

- be reasonably easy for consumers to operate;

- be scalable in terms of horsepower, torque, performance, and fuel economy;

- offer an advantage over existing powertrains in one or more of the points listed above without a big offsetting disadvantage in other points.

Research and development is expensive, so ideas that don't meet these criteria are not likely to get far. Internal combustion engine technology has come a long ways, and the folks who design power plants for automakers are pretty knowledgeable about them and have taken a look at just about any design that shows promise, including ideas that have been patented.

All of the engine designs that were presented to me were deficient in most or all of the points listed above and were not worth passing up the chain. That's not to say that there are no breakthrough designs out there, it's just that none were presented to me.

Current hybrid technology has a cost premium of several thousand dollars over conventional internal combustion engines and drivetrains, and they are barely commercially viable because they are considered to be "green" or offer a payback in terms of operating costs in less than the lifespan of the vehicle if the owner keeps the vehicle long enough.

You can probably do a patent search on your idea, or see if it meets most or all of the criteria listed above. If it is truly a good idea, you can probably get investors to fund the patent process and R&D.

replying to A Voice of Freedom, Marvin Johnson / Inventor wrote: I have an Idea for all Automobiles, something you have not seen anywhere.

toyota snipped-for-privacy@toyota.ca

That would be for Canada.

;-)