Brussels, Belgium,
06
July
2012
|
10:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Second anniversary data of the Plug-in Hybrid vehicle demonstration launch in Strasbourg endorses initial savings for customers

  • Savings of up to 53% on total energy bill (electricity and fuel), representing an economy of up to EUR 7/100 km (1).
  • Up to 64% improvement on fuel efficiency and reduction of up to 58% on CO2 emissions, compared to a petrol vehicle of similar size. When compared to a diesel vehicle of similar size, fuel economy is 40%.
  • The 2012 commercial launch of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid at the end of the summer integrates valuable user feedback from the demonstration.
  • More than 97% of the recharges are carried out either at work or at home. The public charging infrastructure is used to a much lesser extent. To optimise the use of the car in electric mode, and as an initiative by the partners, sharing charging points between companies has become a more common practice.

Today, Toyota, French energy provider EDF and the City and the Urban Community of Strasbourg revealed the data collected from the second year of Toyota's Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) demonstration launch in Strasbourg. Launched on April 27, 2010, this large-scale demonstration was designed to gather real world vehicle-use feedback on PHVs of Toyota while spurring the development of a dedicated public access charging infrastructure. The data gathered till date disclose:

Toyota Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle

Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles offer the best of both worlds, combining the benefits of electric and full hybrid vehicles. Toyota's Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle adopts the same full hybrid system architecture as the normal Prius, with the additional benefit of a larger battery that can be plugged in and recharged from an external (household) power source. The vehicle functions quietly and with zero emissions in electric mode (EV) over short to medium distances. For longer trips, the vehicle functions in hybrid mode (HV) using a combination of both the vehicle's petrol and electric engines with excellent driving performances and a reduced ecological footprint.

 

Second anniversary data

Similarly to the first year, users recharge their PHVs on average approximately once a day (0.9), taking an average of 75 minutes per recharge. The majority of users drove about one third of their journeys in EV mode (34%). Depending on driving and charging behaviour, the driver can enjoy substantial reductions in fuel consumption: more than 50% compared to a petrol vehicle of similar size when recharged once a day (with an EV/HV ratio of 24% to 76%). The PHV fuel efficiency measured during the demonstration reached as high as 64% when the car is recharged twice a day (EV/HV ratio 56% to 44%). As a result the energy bill is down with EUR 7.00/100 km (1).for users who recharge twice a day and EUR 6.20/100 km (1) when the PHV is recharged once a day.

In addition to these customer's advantages, the environment equally benefits: CO2 emissions are largely reduced thanks to the high share of driving in EV mode. Up to 58% of CO2 emissions are cut compared to a petrol vehicle of similar size, when the user recharges twice a day (50% reduction of CO2 emissions with one recharge a day).

 

2012: Commercial launch of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

Feedback from the customers has been highly valued in the process of preparing the Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle for commercialisation starting end of this summer in Europe. In the commercialised Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, customers can press a button to switch between EV to HV modes. This new feature can be of interest to a customer who wishes to maintain full battery capacity to return to the city in EV mode after a drive on the highway for example. The range for electric autonomous driving has been extended by 25% to 25 km. The use of the charging cable has been facilitated mainly by reducing its weight with 26%. Lastly, the trunk capacity has been increased by 10% to reach the volume of the 3rd generation Toyota Prius (443 litres instead of 403 litres).

The unique combination of EV and HV modes enables the Prius Plug-in Hybrid to deliver a total driving range in excess of 1,200 km. Even after the EV is used up, the PHV can still return fuel economy figures of only 3.7-litres/100 km, generating CO2 emissions of just 85 g/km.

Michel Gardel, Vice-President of Communications, External and Environment Affairs at Toyota Motor Europe, said: "We are pleased to be part of this demonstration project, working alongside partners that envisage the same ultimate goal of sustainable mobility with respect to the environment."

He continued: "With the view of making ever-better cars based on our principle of "Customers First", our participation has allowed us to integrate valuable user feedback in the new Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid that will go on sale starting end of this summer. The result from the second year of this demonstration gives us confidence that our brand new product will appeal to a larger customer base."

 

Improvements in charging infrastructure

With regards to the charging infrastructure, the most important evolution over the last twelve months is the installation of new charging boxes with partners that wish to have a detailed view on the charging costs. This information, which is received and handled by EDF, is made available to all users in a personalised way via the internet. This system has revealed that the average cost of a recharge is around EUR 0.30 (all costs included).

The boxes include other functionalities that are highly appreciated by the partners, such as:

  • Scheduled night-time charging. Users who are on a night tariff can benefit from optimised charging costs.
  • 'Pre-conditioning' of the car (heating during winter and air conditioning during summer). This functionality does not have an impact on the autonomy of the battery.

EDF plans to further develop both the programming option for recharges and the devices for monitoring energy consumption in companies as well as at home through a smartphone application and the internet. Services related to geolocation, availability and reservation of charging points will also be offered.

Michel Couture, Director of the Electric Mobility Division at EDF Group, states: "The past two years of the demonstration confirm the growing interest that users display towards new mobility solutions. The numerous data that have been collected are extremely informative. The third and final year will allow us to refine our understanding of customer expectations and to finalise our business models."

 

City and Urban Community of Strasbourg

For Alain Fontanel, Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg and Vice-President of Finances in charge of electric mobility at the Urban Community of Strasbourg : "The City and the Urban Community of Strasbourg are pleased with the results of this demonstration. Strengthened by this feedback, the Urban Community of Strasbourg plans to encourage further development of electric mobility. For this, it is implementing a strategy of complementary charging infrastructure to improve the quality of the charging points network. To achieve this goal, in September 2012, the number of slow charging points will be increased and these will be supplemented with a network of fast and accelerated charging points installed at the Urban Community of Strasbourg."

This PHV program in Strasbourg is part of Toyota's global project involving 600 Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, also deployed in Japan, the United States, Canada and Australia. The main objective for Toyota is to further investigate the technology and performance of PHVs. EDF's objective is to evaluate different operational options for charging infrastructures. The demonstration allows feedback from consumers on the acceptance of this new driving concept in preparation for broader commercialisation in the future.

(1) Calculations based on petrol price of EUR 1.63/L and electricity price of EUR 0.12/kwh

 

About EDF Group

The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the European energy market, is an integrated energy company active in all areas of the business: generation, transmission, distribution, energy supply and trading. The Group is the leading electricity producer in Europe. In France, it has mainly nuclear and hydraulic production facilities where 96.5% of the electricity output is CO2-free.

EDF's transmission and distribution subsidiaries in France operate 1,285,000 km of low and medium voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is involved in supplying energy and services to approximately 27.9 million customers in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of EUR 65.3 billion in 2011, of which 43.1% outside of France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.