Date: Feature Week of April 8, 2003
Topic: Black Car & Travel
Author: William Reed
Article ID: article_ema040803a

2003 TOYOTA PRIUS
What You Need To Know About Hybrids Now And Into The Future

Oil, its prices, and the conflicts it is causing, is one-reason car buyers should be looking toward hybrid and fuel cell technology. Continuing damage to the environment is another reason to check out what is happening in cars and companies around this issue. To date, the Toyota Company has been at the forefront of the world�s automakers in developing these technologies.

Estimates are that there will be 8.5 million electric-hybrid and fuel cell vehicles on the world�s roads by 2009. Therefore, it is certainly time to take a closer look at the current state of hybrid technology, and leaders in this field. Toyota still leads the hybrid revolution, having introduced Prius, the world�s first mass-produced electric-gasoline hybrid car in 1997 - two years before any other manufacturer. Today, Toyota�s lineup of hybrid vehicles tops 100,000 sold and represents 90 percent of the world market. Toyota�s Prius is America�s best-selling hybrid vehicle � up 29 percent from the 2001 model year. Using less gasoline and helping improve the environment, the five-passenger Prius is 84 percent cleaner for harmful emissions than the average car. At the 2003 New York Auto Show, Toyota will debut the all-new second-generation Prius, which Toyota Group Vice President Irv Miller says is �improved in every way, with more style, technology and performance.�

There is no question that hybrids represent the future in automotive transportation. �America�s cars and trucks can reach an average of 60 miles per gallon by the end of the next decade if automakers use the best hybrid vehicle technologies and mass produce them fleet-wide,� says a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Hybrid cars and trucks look and drive like other vehicles on the road, but incorporate some of the benefits of full-function battery-electric vehicles. A hybrid combines a conventional internal-combustion engine with an electric motor. To date, hybrids use their multiple power sources in one of two ways. Electric-gasoline hybrids like Toyota�s Prius can run on either power source alone or can combine their output for more power. Other hybrids have a primary gasoline power source and a secondary electric power source. In these cases, the primary source is always running when the vehicle is in operation, while the secondary source is only engaged when additional power is needed. The secondary power source never operates alone to propel the vehicle.

The chief benefits car-buyers and the world citizens will enjoy from hybrids are higher mileage and lower harmful emissions. As a hybrid vehicle climbs a hill or slows to stop, onboard computers switch automatically from one power source to another (as does the Prius) or, it will turn a power-boost source on or off as needed. Batteries and electric motors can boost a gasoline engine�s power without producing harmful emissions, and hybrids can use less powerful gasoline engines that produce lower emissions and get better fuel economy. Hybrids use the energy created by braking to charge their batteries. As a result, unlike all-electric vehicles, hybrids don�t need to be plugged into an electric outlet. Hybrids such as the Prius don�t require special fuel and can refuel at existing gasoline stations.

The Prius is a four-door, five-passenger sedan that was designed and built as a part of Toyota�s hybrid technology. A four-cylinder gasoline engine and an electric motor power the compact-size car. Rated one of �the most fuel efficient vehicles� of 2001 by the U.S. Environmental Agency, the Prius has a net horsepower rating of 98 (gasoline engine 70 and electric motor 44 horsepower). Because it can use the electric motor at low speeds, Prius has a 52 miles per gallon city rating . The highway rating is 45 miles per gallon. The $19,995 (list price) Prius has 88.6 cubic feet of interior volume and 11.8 cubic feet of cargo volume.

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