Transport

Toyota and EDF Energy launch UK trial of plug-in hybrid vehicles

To mark the start of a three-year lease demonstration programme for public organisations and business fleets, 20 Toyota Pruis plug-in hybrids will take to the streets of London next month.

The vehicles will be trialled by five businesses and public organisations, while utility EDF Energy will provide charging points on the street, at workplaces and at home.

EDF Energy is already working with the Greater London Authority to install up to 550 public access charging points across the capital as part of the Plugged in Places initiative.

The project, which is part of the Technology Strategy Board’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme, will feed data back to Toyota, EDF Energy and the UK Government about how drivers use and view electric vehicles.

Part funded by the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and administered by Cenex – Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies – the programme will pave the way for the commercial rollout of the Pruis Plug-in in the next few years.

The organisations and businesses taking part are Transport for London, the Government Car and Despatch Agency, the Metropolitan Police Service and media organisations News International and Sky.

“[The] project will deliver valuable insights into the behaviour and preferences of UK drivers as they engage with the technology for the first time and experience it in their everyday driving routines,” says Miguel Fonseca, managing director of Toyota in the UK.

The trial will feed into the Coalition Government’s plans to establish a national recharging network for electric and plug in hybrid vehicles.

For further information:
www.edfenergy.com
www.toyota.co.uk/
www.innovateuk.org
www.cenex.co.uk/

23 June 2010

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