donskar wrote:I work for Toyota (but root for Ferrari), so I would like to point out that Toyota has been selling hybrids for over 10 years -- yet their KERS is not ready for F1 prime time. That makes me wonder just how applicable F1-style KERS is to production cars -- I think not.
Back when they published the news about a delayed KERS system, they said that the reason was the Prius: As a car synonymous with hybrid power, they couldn't afford any bad publicity about the safety of their KERS systems, and that their extra precautions have cost them precious time.
I think that because the type of KERS in F1 is so radically different to what was used in hybrid cars so far, Toyota's knowledge hasn't helped them. At the same time, I think that this KERS system will go the other way around: It might be road-applicable in the future.