Bravo: Toyota Plug-In Hybrid to Hit the Roads

Toyota Plug-In Hybrid To Hit The Roads

Journalists drive a prototype of the plug-in hybrid vehicle of Toyota Motor which enable to charge battery from power supply for families on the test course in Tokyo, 25 July 2007. The Japan's auto giant acquired authorization from the government to begin a proof examination of the plug-in hybrid vehicle on public roads in Japan. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Jul 27, 2007
Toyota said Wednesday that it had taken a step closer to launching its plug-in hybrid vehicle, which has become the first of its kind to get a roadworthiness certificate in Japan. Toyota plans to conduct tests of the vehicle -- which like other hybrids is powered by a gasoline engine and an electric motor -- on public roads in Japan as well as the United States and Europe, the automaker said in a statement. Unlike existing hybrids, the plug-in vehicles have batteries that can be recharged using household electricity, enabling more frequent use of the electric-only mode that saves on petrol and cuts emissions, the automaker said.

Conventional hybrids have batteries that cannot be recharged.

Toyota said it sees plug-in hybrids as a "promising technology" for harnessing electricity as a power source for automobiles.

But challenges remain for pure electric vehicles such as a limited cruising range and cost issues, it added.

Toyota, which is battling General Motors for the title of world number one, pioneered mass production of the low pollution petrol-electric vehicles along with Japanese rival Honda.

Toyota has sold more than one million of its fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles since they were introduced a decade ago.

Source: Agence France-Presse