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 (1). Trials start today and 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 (2) technologies.
The trial builds on the first European PHV testing programme launched by Toyota and EDF on French roads in September 2007. The UK partnership is designed to evaluate vehicle performance within an urban environment, vehicle infrastructure requirements, and driver behaviours and expectations.
Toyota and EDF Energy are using an innovative charging and invoicing system which is incorporated into the PHV. This system is compatible with a new generation of public charging stations, which aim to make electric power more accessible on public roads and car parks, and will reduce the cost to the customer. EDF Energy has helped to install the first of 40 charging posts in the UK, with plans to help install more in the coming months.
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.
Rt Hon John Hutton MP, UK Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, speaking at a Toyota - EDF Energy event in London to launch PHV in the UK, said: 'I welcome the launch of this trial here in the UK. I am pleased to see industry pulling together to work on diversifying energy use and cutting global carbon emissions. We hope that this trial will provide an invaluable insight into the future development of UK electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. This, combined with the demonstration project announced by the prime minister (3), will lead us one step closer to making our ambition of becoming the number one location for low carbon vehicles a reality.'
‘We are very excited to expand our PHV road testing programme to the UK in collaboration with EDF Energy,’ said Koei Saga, Managing Officer in charge of hybrid system development at Toyota Motor Corporation. ‘Today’s announcement represents a step change towards acceptance of electricity in combination with hybrid technology as a viable and sustainable transport solution’.
Vincent de Rivaz, EDF Energy Chief Executive said: ‘I am delighted that EDF Energy will play a pivotal role with Toyota in trialling this innovative vehicle and technology as part of our ongoing work to make clean electric transport more accessible to everyone. We passionately believe in rising to the challenge of climate change by helping our customers reduce the carbon emissions from their energy use. Incorporating this vehicle into our fleet complements our work in developing electric charging posts for vehicles in the UK and in France. It supports Our Climate Commitments, in which we have committed to cutting our CO2 emissions from our transport by 20% by 2012.’
For more information, please contact:
TOYOTA MOTOR EUROPE:
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Mr. Etienne Plas |
T +32 2 745 2022 |
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Mrs. Maria Mack |
T +32 2 745 2053 |
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Mrs. Anne Gaublomme |
T +32 2 745 2041 |
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Toyota Motor Europe media website: www.toyota-media.com |
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EDF ENERGY:
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Mr.Richard Robinson |
T +44 20 7752 2266 |
Notes to editors:
(1) There are existing retrofitted Toyota Prius vehicles in the UK. However, the Toyota Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle is the first PHV vehicle produced by a car manufacturer.
(2) In a motor vehicle, the term powertrain refers to the group of components that generate power and deliver it to the road surface. The main components are the engine and the transmission.
(3) The UK Prime Minister announced on 4th September a major new pilot programme for electric cars - including plug-in hybrids which can be fuelled by electricity from the grid or petrol - working with the Energy Technologies Institute, Cenex, the UK Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies, and the industry to explore the role of electric cars in a sustainable transport system.
PHV pictures are available on Toyota media website (www.toyota-media.com)
EDF Energy is one of the UK’s largest energy companies. We provide power to a quarter of the UK’s population via our electricity distribution networks in London, the South East and the East of England. We supply gas and electricity to over 5 million customers and generate about 5GW of energy from our coal and gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and wind farms.
Through Our Climate and Social Commitments we have launched the biggest environmental and social packages of any UK energy company. The company is also a key player in national infrastructure projects including management of private electricity networks serving four London airports and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the country’s first major new railway in 100 years.
EDF Energy employs nearly 13,000 people at locations across the UK and is a core part of EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest power companies. EDF is the official energy utilities partner and sustainability partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. www.edfenergy.com
Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA (TME) oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and accessories, and Toyota’s European manufacturing and engineering operations. Toyota directly and indirectly employs around 80,000 people in Europe and has invested over €7 billion since 1990. In 2007, Toyota sold 1,238,638 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe, enjoying its 11th consecutive record year of sales. For more information, go to http://www.toyota.eu.
Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the world's leading automakers and together with its subsidiaries produces a full range of models. Global sales of its Toyota and Lexus brands, combined with those of Daihatsu and Hino, totalled 9,366,000 units in 2007. In addition to 12 plants in Japan, Toyota has 53 manufacturing companies in 27 countries and locations, which produce Lexus and Toyota brand vehicles and components. Toyota employs about 300,000 people worldwide, and markets vehicles in more than 170 countries and locations.
Since 1997, Toyota has sold more than 1.6 million hybrid vehicles globally, including more than 150,000 in Europe. The UK is Toyota's largest market for hybrid vehicles in Europe: over 38,000 hybrid vehicles have been sold in the UK since 2000, including more than 26,000 Prius. Toyota has a global target of one million hybrid vehicles per year by the early 2010s, with European sales contributing more than 10% of this target.