Toyota and Hybrids

Back in the early 1990's, Toyota first began assessing technology that could improve our environment for the 21st century. By 1995, the first Toyota Hybrid System using gasoline and electric power was developed. Today, Toyota has three hybrid vehicles available in the U.S., where we've sold more than 500,000 hybrids - surpassing the rest of the hybrid industry combined.

Spotlight on Prius

One of the challenges of building environmentally advanced automobiles is that customers want the added environmental benefit but do not want to sacrifice other features such as quality, power, price or comfort. So at the same time that Prius has achieved market acceptance, the pressure has increased for Toyota to meet even higher consumer standards - even better performance at a lower price. This is a challenge they have systematically met.

As can be seen in the table, Prius' fuel efficiency and vehicle performance have steadily improved since 1998, even as the Prius has grown from a subcompact to a midsize sedan. Prius' emissions have become cleaner, as the certification rating has evolved from Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) to Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) to Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV). AT-PZEV vehicles are 70% cleaner than the average new car (based on 2005 model year vehicles) and have zero evaporative emissions. Toyota is working on all of their hybrid products to balance environmental and energy security concerns with the performance and features desired by different market segments.

Maximize Your Mileage

Here are some quick and easy tips to get the most out of any vehicle:

• Plan ahead-combine several short trips in order to minimize cold engine starts.
• Accelerate at a moderate pace.
• Monitor highway speed. Fuel economy suffers at about 65 mph and plummets above 70.
• Regularly check and maintain proper tire pressure.
• Don't carry unnecessary loads. Excess weight reduces fuel economy.
• Use the air conditioner and defroster only as needed; both reduce fuel economy.

Hybrid drivers can take these steps to maximize mileage, too:

• Monitor the flow of traffic to plan your moves well ahead. If traffic is slowing, use moderate early braking or coasting instead of hard braking.
• In slow-and-go traffic, accelerate to the desired speed, then lift off the throttle to maintain that speed under electric power. You may be able to sustain speeds in the 20-40 mph range without engaging the gasoline engine.