Toyota to test drive plug-in hybrid Prius in US campuses

25 July 2007

Mumbai: Toyota Motor Corporation has unveiled its road-ready plug-in hybrid, bringing the future where drivers would queue up to plug in rather than stop for gas or petrol a bit nearer.

Japan''s transport ministry has certified the Pirus plug-in version, which uses a gas-powered combustion engine and electric motor like earlier hybrids, but has a bigger battery capacity for longer electric-motor range.

Toyota, the leader in gasoline-electric vehicle sales in the US, will team up with the universities on cleaner, more fuel-efficient versions of its Prius sedan.

Toyota said it would partner with two California universities to test so-called plug-in versions of its Prius hybrid, cars that would be capable of travelling farther and faster than current models on electricity alone.

Toyota also said it had won permission from the Japanese government to begin road-testing plug-in hybrids in its home country.

The automaker said it would provide plug-in prototypes to researchers at UC Irvine and UC Berkeley as part of the schools'' continuing study of sustainable modes of transportation.