Prius is Streets Ahead
Jan 6, 2011 By Toyota Australia.
Next year, Toyota celebrates 10 years of Prius in the Australian market. Clearly the way of the future, hybrid technology delivers proven performance for your fleet as well as giving you significant savings on the cost of fuel.
Since launching hybrid technology overseas in 1997, Toyota has sold more than 2.68 million hybrid vehicles globally. Prius is the world's most popular hybrid by far and its been Japan's best-selling car for 15 consecutive months*. Toyota has calculated that these vehicles have led to approximately 15 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide emissions, helping address issues such as dwindling oil reserves, global warming and pollution.
Toyota is continually driving innovation of its Hybrid Synergy Drive (tm) system and hopes to introduce hybrid technology into all its models by the 2020s.
Feeling Electric
After winning the International Green Engine of the Year award for Prius, Toyota Australia has been invited to participate in a global trial of electric hybrids.
A prototype plug-in hybrid, based on the Prius was featured at the recent Australian International Motor Show. This model is set to play a key part in a global study into the future of electric vehicles. The plug-in hybrid vehicles, equipped with lithium-ion batteries, will provide critical R and D about the benefits and challenges of electric vehicles. The data will be shared with local partners drawn from government and business.
Made in Altona
Buoyed by Hybrid Camry's successful implementation, Toyota will begin manufacturing a new fuel efficient and more environmentally sustainable engine at its engine plant at Altona in Melbourne. From 2012, Toyota will produce engines for Hybrid Camry and Camry each year, injecting approximately $300 million into the Australian economy.
*As at October 2010.