Five Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicles (PHEV) will be used in New York City for a “Demonstration Program” with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) and the Port Authority.

Two of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles will be handed over to the NYCDOT and three to the Port Authority to be used in their fleets. Given that since I worked for the State of NY, NYCDOT has been aggressively reducing greenhouse gas emissions. NYPA use to have the old Toyota RAV4 electric cars that Toyota is NOW bringing back to market.

“New York City has one of the world’s most aggressive and comprehensive sustainability plans – PlaNYC, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030,” said New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “Reaching our goal means having a more efficient vehicle fleet, and Toyota continues to be a great partner for City government, which has the world’s largest fleet of hybrid vehicles. I want to thank Toyota for making us a part of the Plug-in Hybrid vehicle program and generously providing these cars at no cost to the taxpayer.”

“We’re charging down the road to a greener, greater New York, and thanks to Toyota’s innovative new plug-in technology, we’ll be able to charge up along the way,” said NYCDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “Working alongside our car-sharing pilot, we hope this demonstration program will also help reduce the environmental impact of our operations on New York City’s streets.”

“Toyota and New York City share a commitment to building a more environmentally sustainable future for New York, making this Prius Plug-in Hybrid partnership a natural fit,” said Yoshi Inaba, President and COO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. “As we strive to bring advanced-technology and alternative-fuel vehicles to market that will not only benefit our customers but also the environment, these real-world partnerships are critical to the success of the program.”

During the demonstration program, NYCDOT will capture real-world driving data to educate and promote the Prius Plug-in Hybrid vehicles as sustainable transportation to the public. In early 2011, data from the U.S. demonstration programs will be posted on http://www.toyota.com/esq. This readily available data will show how the Prius Plug-in Hybrid vehicles are being used and how they are performing. As the vehicles gather miles, data such as fuel economy, miles driven, charging times and additional content will be viewable online. In addition, demonstration partners will be sharing data and comparing usage and performance of the vehicles.

Source: Toyota Motor Corporation