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EDF Energy and
Toyota have teamed up to road trial the
first Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle
(PHV) introduced by a car manufacturer to
the UK. Trials will continue
for more than one year. Toyota’s right-hand
drive PHV will make its on-the-road debut
as part of EDF Energy’s company fleet and
will be tested by employees under every-day
driving conditions. The results are expected
to play a pivotal role in the development of
Toyota’s PHV technology, which represents a
further improvement on Toyota's hybrid
technology, one of the world's most
environmentally friendly mass-produced
vehicle
powertrain technologies.
A PHV uses Toyota’s hybrid technology with
the added benefit that the vehicle’s
batteries can
be fully recharged using a standard
electrical plug or an electrical charging
post to extend its
driving range in electric mode. For short
distances, PHV can be driven as an electric
vehicle,
resulting in a silent, zero emissions drive.
For longer distances, PHV works as a
conventional
hybrid vehicle.
Toyota's PHV is “the best of both worlds”:
it enhances the benefits of hybrid
technology, while
avoiding the constraints traditionally
linked with electric vehicles. Toyota
expects the PHV to
bring unsurpassed fuel efficiency and
therefore record low emissions. Early test
results
indicate that fuel efficiency is
significantly higher than current Prius. For
example, for trips up
to 25km, PHV consumes roughly 60% less fuel
than Toyota's hybrid Prius. One of the
research objectives of the UK tests is to
confirm such PHV performance.
The tests also aim at understanding
consumers' acceptance of the new technology,
as a
preparation to broader commercialisation in
the future. Toyota has already confirmed
that it will
sell lithium-ion battery-equipped PHVs to
fleet customers in Europe and other regions
by the
end of 2009. |
