EDF Energy and Toyota launch UK trials of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle

EDF Energy and Toyota have teamed up to road trial the first Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) introduced by a car manufacturer to the UK (1). Trials start today and will continue for more than one year. Toyota’s right-hand drive PHV will make its on-the-road debut as part of EDF Energy’s company fleet and will be tested by employees under every-day driving conditions. The results are expected to play a pivotal role in the development of Toyota’s PHV technology, which represents a further improvement on Toyota's hybrid
technology, one of the world's most environmentally friendly mass-produced vehicle powertrain (2) technologies.

The trial builds on the first European PHV testing programme launched by Toyota and EDF on French roads in September 2007. The UK partnership is designed to evaluate vehicle performance within an urban environment, vehicle infrastructure requirements, and driver behaviours and expectations.

Toyota and EDF Energy are using an innovative charging and invoicing system which is incorporated into the PHV. This system is compatible with a new generation of public charging stations, which aim to make electric power more accessible on public roads and car parks, and will reduce the cost to the customer. EDF Energy has helped to install the first of 40 charging posts in the UK, with plans to help install more in the coming months. A PHV uses Toyota’s hybrid technology with the added benefit that the vehicle’s batteries can be fully recharged using a standard electrical plug or an electrical charging post to extend its driving range in electric mode. For short distances, PHV can be driven as an electric vehicle, resulting in a silent, zero emissions drive. For longer distances, PHV works as a conventional hybrid vehicle.

Toyota's PHV is “the best of both worlds”: it enhances the benefits of hybrid technology, while avoiding the constraints traditionally linked with electric vehicles. Toyota expects the PHV to bring unsurpassed fuel efficiency and therefore record low emissions. Early test results indicate that fuel efficiency is significantly higher than current Prius. For example, for trips up to 25km, PHV consumes roughly 60% less fuel than Toyota's hybrid Prius. One of the research objectives of the UK tests is to confirm such PHV performance. The tests also aim at understanding consumers' acceptance of the new technology, as a
preparation to broader commercialisation in the future. Toyota has already confirmed that it will sell lithium-ion battery-equipped PHVs to fleet customers in Europe and other regions by the end of 2009.

Rt Hon John Hutton MP, UK Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, speaking at a Toyota - EDF Energy event in London to launch PHV in the UK, said: 'I welcome the launch of this trial here in the UK. I am pleased to see industry pulling together to work on diversifying energy use and cutting global carbon emissions. We hope that this trial will provide an invaluable insight into the future development of UK electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. This, combined with the demonstration project announced by the prime minister (3), will lead us one step closer to making our ambition of becoming the number one location for low carbon vehicles a reality.'

‘We are very excited to expand our PHV road testing programme to the UK in collaboration with EDF Energy,’ said Koei Saga, Managing Officer in charge of hybrid system development at Toyota Motor Corporation. ‘Today’s announcement represents a step change towards acceptance of electricity in combination with hybrid technology as a viable and sustainable transport solution’.

Vincent de Rivaz, EDF Energy Chief Executive said: ‘I am delighted that EDF Energy will play a pivotal role with Toyota in trialling this innovative vehicle and technology as part of our ongoing work to make clean electric transport more accessible to everyone. We passionately believe in rising to the challenge of climate change by helping our customers reduce the carbon emissions from their energy use. Incorporating this vehicle into our fleet complements our work in developing electric charging posts for vehicles in the UK and in France. It supports Our Climate Commitments, in which we have committed to cutting our CO2 emissions from our transport by 20% by 2012.’

A lot of people can’t wait to try [the plug-in Prius], so it’s understandable that one of our dealers created some confusion recently by taking deposits on future Prius plug-in hybrids.

Magnussen’s Toyota in Palo Alto, California was doing what we’ve always encouraged our dealers to do...to listen carefully to their customers and try to meet their needs. Being so close to Silicon Valley, the dealership was getting lots of requests from customers who wanted to buy a plug-in Prius. And since the dealership had confidence Toyota would eventually deliver a great vehicle, they thought it would be a good idea to take deposits and make customers happy.

So, while we applaud Magnuessen’s excitement about our future Prius plug-in, we want to be clear that we have not announced a timetable for retail sales.

Jalopnik Snap Judgment: Since one or two of us have done tours of duty in the hallowed halls of America's car dealerships, we know that cash money is God there. Faced with customers demanding something that didn't exist, but that the dealer knew would most likely soon exist, Magnussen's did what any money-grubbing auto retailer would have done: they charged folks to get on "the list." Shady? Yeah. Surprising? Not in the least. It's common knowledge that a customer who has left a deposit on something, no matter how small, is much more likely to return to complete the transaction — any transaction. The simple rule of thumb to follow is "don't put a deposit on something that doesn't yet exist." Even...or especially...at a car dealership. Incidentally, Magnussen's also agreed to return all customer deposits for plug-in Priuses, but we wonder how much thumb-twisting on Toyota's part was involved before they agreed to relinquish their precious cash. [Toyota Open Road Blog]

If you're interested in something a bit more modern, the system is designed to work with an upgrade to lithium iron phosphate batteries too. And if you want to pump juice into those batteries using nothing but the sun, you might want to bolt on some solar panels. Us? We'd still rather have a VW Golf Twin Drive. [GreenCarCongress]

Auto Motor & Sport, by way of Motor Authority, reported yesterday on a joint effort between the energy departments of two august establishments of hybrid research — the United States' Argonne National Laboratory and Sweden's Lindholmen Science Park. The $37 million program will work on developing new plug-in hybrid technology. Also, a better meatball! [Motor Authority]

V2Green is developing a type of two-way communication technology that links the hybrid with a power plant to better manage vehicle charging. Basically it will give the power plant control over how much juice your hybrid should be getting. So if you need a quick recharge during a "peak hour," good freaking luck, the power company is going to strike that down real quick.

The technology will reportedly save money on charging vehicles, but at the cost of convenience, perhaps. Not necessarily a good thing in an unfamiliar area for many consumers. Stay tuned for our follow-up report, set to go live in early 2013. [Autopia]

EDF and Toyota announce European technology partnership for Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles EDF and Toyota have today announced a new technology partnership to evaluate Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) in Europe. The objective is to develop practical solutions for the commercialisation of Toyota's prototype vehicle technology, which can further reduce the environmental impact of vehicles especially in urban areas. Under the joint agreement, a small number of PHVs will be integrated into EDF's fleet and will be tested on public roads in France under every-day driving conditions. Road trials of the PHV will commence in France in the autumn and may be expanded to other European countries in the future. The vehicles use Toyota's hybrid technology but with the added benefit that their batteries can be recharged using a standard electrical plug. Toyota's PHV technology combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor and a battery which can be charged in two ways: either whilst the vehicle is driving and by recovering energy otherwise lost during braking, or by connecting the vehicle to an electric supply source at home, work or at a public charging station. For short journeys, a PHV would rely more on electric power, offering significant reductions in CO2 emissions through reduced consumption of fossil fuels. For longer distances, it would switch to a combined electric/gasoline mode. EDF and Toyota have also developed an innovative charging and invoicing system, equipped in each of the test vehicles. This system is compatible with a new generation of public charging stations, which aim to make electric power more accessible on public roads and car parks and to reduce the cost to the customer. For more than 40 years, EDF has acted to promote the use of electricity for transport and rechargeable vehicles, in-line with its strategy of sustainable development. Mr Pierre Gadonneix, President and CEO of EDF said: "I am delighted by this partnership between EDF and Toyota on a new generation of vehicles. This innovation is a promising move towards acceptance of electricity as a competitive and ecologically-viable source of energy for European motorists. It strives to reconcile the challenges of individual mobility, economic growth and environmental impacts". "This new collaboration marks an important milestone in advancing global capability in the area of alternative fuel sources for transport, which we believe are critical to society's future," said Mr. Masatami Takimoto, Executive Vice-President of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). "We are proud to partner such a leading European energy supplier as EDF, with whom we share a common vision towards sustainable mobility."

The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the energy market in Europe, is an energy specialist that is active in
all the businesses of electricity: production, transport, 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 95% of the electricity output involves no CO2 emissions. EDF operates over 1,200,000 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 close to 38 million customers around the world, including more than 28 million in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of € 58.9 billion in 2006, of which 42 % were generated in Europe excluding France. Net income (Group share) stood at € 5.6 billion, with net income from ordinary operations at € 4.2 billion. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.

Toyota is one of the leading car manufacturers in Europe, with eight manufacturing plants across the
continent including Valenciennes in France. The company is committed to reducing the impact of the
automobile on the environment at all stages of the product's life-cycle; design, production use and disposal.

2007 marks ten years of hybrid leadership for Toyota since the launch of its first mass-produced hybrid
vehicle in 1997. Having sold over one million hybrid units worldwide and over 100,000 in Europe, the company now aims to sell one million hybrid units a year globally in the early 2010s.