Toyota has been introducing several hybrid vehicles (HV) since 1997 as a countermeasure to the concerns raised by automobile, like CO2 reduction, energy security, and pollutant emission reduction in urban areas. Plug in hybrid Vehicle (PHV) uses electric energy from grid rather than fuel for most short trips and therefore presents a next step forward towards an even more effective solution for these concerns. For longer trips, the PHV works as a conventional hybrid vehicle, providing all the benefits of Toyota full hybrid technology, such as low fuel consumption, user-friendliness and long cruising range.
This paper describes a newly developed plug-in hybrid system and its vehicle performance. This system uses a Li-ion battery with high energy density and has an EV-range within usual trip length without sacrificing cabin space. The vehicle achieves a CO2 emission of 59g/km, which corresponds to a fuel consumption of 2.6 liter/100 km, and meets the most stringent emission regulations in the world.
The new PHV, which was developed for conducting a large scale demonstration worldwide with about 600 units, is a forerunner of the large-scale mass production of PHV in early 2012. PHVs have the potential to become popular as a realistic solution towards sustainable mobility by renewable electricity usage in the future.