Design work on the TS040 began in November 2012 when the Automobile Club de l'Ouest published its 2014 technical regulations, with Toyota focusing its engineering resources on the project after the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car was built at Toyota Motorsport's headquarters in Cologne, Germany, with chassis design overseen by engineer Pascal Vasselon and the direction of the French racing organisation Oreca.
The TS040 was an aerodynamic improvement over its predecessor, with engineers reducing drag and increasing downforce while lowering fuel consumption by 25 percent compared to 2013. New LMP1 regulations made the car 10 centimetres shorter and reduced the tyre arch width by 5 centimetres compared to the TS030. The chassis was constructed from carbon fibre and aluminium materials, and the car's design permitted four-wheel drive.
The mid-mounted, naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine was carried over from the TS030 Hybrid, with its displacement increased from 3.4 litres to 3.7 litres by lengthening the stroke, producing 513 horsepower to the rear wheels. Toyota fitted two kinetic energy recovery system devices at the front and rear axles, harvesting braking energy to charge a Nisshinbo supercapacitor and delivering an additional 473 horsepower, giving the car a combined output of approximately 986 horsepower. Toyota selected the 6 MJ energy class from the four available categories, having determined that the 8 MJ class would add too much weight to be beneficial to lap times. The seven-speed sequential gearbox was made of aluminium, with a multiplate clutch supplied by ZF Friedrichshafen. The car covered more than 25,000 kilometres in testing before its competitive debut.
Toyota entered two cars for the 2014 season: the No. 7, driven by Alexander Wurz, Stephane Sarrazin, and Kazuki Nakajima, and the No. 8, shared by Nicolas Lapierre, Anthony Davidson, and Sebastien Buemi. Mike Conway was signed as reserve and test driver.
The TS040 won its first two races of the season at the 6 Hours of Silverstone and the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, both courtesy of the No. 8 car. At Silverstone, Nakajima secured Toyota's grid position while Buemi, Lapierre, and Davidson converted it to a victory. At Spa, Buemi took the lead from the Porsche that had held it for the opening two hours and the No. 8 car was unhindered to the finish.
At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nakajima secured Toyota's first pole position at the race since 1999. The No. 7 car ran at the front for much of the early running, but was retired after a wiring loom failure in the ninth hour. Lapierre aquaplaned into the barriers in the No. 8 car but recovered to finish third overall. Following Le Mans, Lapierre was dropped from the lineup and did not take further part in the 2014 season.
The TS040 won two more races at the 6 Hours of Fuji and the 6 Hours of Shanghai, and Conway substituted for Nakajima in Bahrain due to a Super GT conflict. The No. 7 car won in Bahrain, allowing Buemi and Davidson to secure the Drivers' Championship with a round to spare despite a mechanical delay. Toyota accumulated 289 points to win the 2014 Manufacturers' Championship at the season-ending 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.
New regulations required an 80 percent redesign of the TS040 for 2015. Changes included a new front-end crash structure, revised suspension to improve tyre life, additional weight reduction, and two body kits — one optimised for fast circuits, one for tight tracks. The supercapacitor was modified for enhanced performance, though Toyota elected to remain in the 6 MJ energy class. Nakajima moved to the No. 1 car full-time after leaving Super GT, and Conway was promoted to a full-time seat alongside Sarrazin in the No. 2 car. Former Formula One driver Kamui Kobayashi was signed as reserve driver.
The 2015 season proved difficult. Nakajima suffered a broken back during practice at Spa-Francorchamps after colliding heavily with an Audi on the Kemmel Straight and was cleared to return for Le Mans. At Le Mans, Toyota could not match the pace of Audi and Porsche despite being more than two seconds per lap faster than in 2014; the No. 2 car finished sixth and the No. 1 car eighth after a lengthy pit stop for bodywork and suspension repairs. Conway retired the No. 2 car at Circuit of the Americas after losing control on kerbing while lapping slower traffic. The No. 2 car finished second at the season-ending 6 Hours of Bahrain, Toyota's best result of the year, and the team placed third in the Manufacturers' Championship with 164 points.
A post-season rookie test at Bahrain in November 2015 and further testing in January 2016 marked the final outings of the TS040. The car was replaced by the TS050 Hybrid for the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season.