"Toyota Launches UK Testing of Plug-In Prius Hybrids" Green Car Advisor

Toyota Launches UK Testing of Plug-In Prius Hybrids

Great Britain has become the net test-bed for Toyota's plug-in Prius hybrid, according to the automaker's European operating unit.

Building on a plug-in hybrid test program it began in France a year ago, Toyota of Europe said this morning that it has begun placing an unspecified number of plug-in Priuses with London-based EDF Energy.

The cars will be used by EDF employees as part of the electric utility's everyday company fleet in a test that will last more than a year, the companies said in a joint announcement.

The test is part of a nationwide pilot program aimed at evaluating the role electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, can play in a sustainable transportation network in the UK which, like other European nations, is working to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of its vehicle fleet and to find ways of reducing oil use.

Plug-ins, unlike pure electric vehicles, run in all-electric mode only part of the time and also use a conventional gasoline or diesel engine for propulsion.

The UK test is designed to evaluate vehicle performance in an urban environment and to help understand vehicle infrastructure requirements and driver behavior and expectations.

Toyota and EDF are using a charging and invoicing system that is built into the vehicle and is compatible with a new generation of public charging stations being installed in the UK.

EDF already has installed more than 40 of the charging stations with more to come.

Toyota said that early test results show that its plug-in Prius - scheduled to be placed into commercial use for fleet customers in the U.S., Europe and Asia late next year - can achieve substantial fuel savings over the conventional hybrid-electric model.

The plug-in can run on electric power only at higher speeds and for longer distances than the conventional model.

For intra -city trips of up to 15 miles, Toyota's plug-in hybrid test vehicles use about 60 percent less gasoline than do regular Prius models, the company said.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor