- Toyota Motor Corp.
- Yoshi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, center, presents Prius plug-in hybrids to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and DOT Commisioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
Yoshi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, Inc., made the announcement at a ceremony this morning at New York City Hall and presented the cars to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner of the city department of transportation.
The small plug-in test fleet is part of a broader program in the city to reduce its emissions of carbon and greenhouse gases. It is also part of a Toyota’s preparation for launching the plug-in cars in 2012. The car maker is fielding more than 160 plug-in hybrids for similar demonstration programs across the U.S.
“New York City has one of the world’s most aggressive and comprehensive sustainability plans – PlaNYC, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030,” Mayor Bloomberg said. Developing a more efficient fleet of vehicles is a major component in reaching that goal, he said.
It takes about three hours to fully charge the Prius plug-in hybrid using a standard 110-volt outlet, or about half that time using a 220-volt outlet –the type typically used by clothes dryers. Once charged, the car can run for about 13 miles at speeds up to 62 mph. Beyond that distance the car returns to a hybrid mode and runs on a combination of gasoline and battery power like a standard Prius.
Toyota and New York have worked together for years to improve the fleet. Over the past five years the city has bought more than 2,500 Toyota hybrid vehicles for official use.
During the new test program, the department of transportation will gather data on how the cars are being used and how they perform. Early next year, data from the program will be posted at http://www.toyota.com/esq, allowing people to follow the cars and get an idea of how the plug-in systems are working in everyday real-world driving .
Toyota Motor Corp. today said it will send five plug-in version of its Prius hybrid car to New York City as part of a broad demonstration program of plug-in hybrid vehicles or PHVs. Officials said the city department of transportation will use two of the cars and the other three will enter the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey fleet.
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