WAVE—A Novel Strategic Framework for Sustainable Technology Transition: The Case of Toyota’s Water Engine

Abstract

The global automotive transition towards battery-electric vehicles has accelerated rapidly, but increased grid dependence, battery supply-chain vulnerabilities, and uneven charging infrastructure expose mobility systems to systemic risk. The WAVE (Water Automotive Value Evolution) framework is proposed as a durable engineering-management system to guide the development, validation and deployment of grid-independent propulsion systems. Using Toyota's water engine concept as a proof-of-concept (presented here as a hypothetical engineering program), WAVE integrates sustainability (Wa), disciplined simplification (Aka), infrastructure/value-stream planning (Value), and continuous field-driven improvement (Evolving). The framework is explicitly designed to align with Toyota Production System principles and to remain valid across multiple technology cycles. Where the water engine is discussed, it is treated as a conceptual case study—reasons for hypothetical treatment are stated where appropriate