Toyota announces partners of Prius Plug-in Hybrid limited lease programme in Belgium

Around 600 units of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid are deployed globally, with the objective to test the vehicle under real life conditions, and with a special focus on future mass market introduction. Around 200 of the 600 cars go to 18 European countries. The majority of the cars for Europe is used for a large-scale demonstration in Strasbourg which was launched on 27 April 2010. Five cars were allocated to Belgium.

After evaluating various candidates, Toyota confirmed the following five Belgian partners:

Colruyt, Telenet, Agoria, the Federal Public Service for Mobility and Transportation, and Jos Delbeke, Director General Climate Action of the European Commission.

At the beginning of July the vehicles will officially be handed over to the partners. They will use the car for a period of three years. A Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle uses Toyota's full hybrid technology, with the added benefit that its battery can be recharged using a standard electrical plug. Toyota's PHV is "the best of both worlds": for short distances, it can be driven as an electric vehicle, resulting in a silent, zero CO₂ emissions drive. For longer distances, the PHV works as a conventional hybrid vehicle, providing all the benefits of Toyota's full hybrid technology, including low emissions and fuel consumption, and excellent driving performance. Toyota expects the PHV to bring unsurpassed fuel efficiency and therefore record low emissions — as compared to any other mass-market vehicle on roads today. Based on the third generation Prius, the new Prius Plug-in Hybrid is equipped with a lithium-ion battery and emits only 59g CO₂ per km in the New European Driving Cycle(1)

(1) CO₂ emissions of Prius Plug-in Hybrid are measured according to the new official international regulation for plug-in hybrid electric powertrains, as adopted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.