Jun 15, 2001
Toyota Introduces Hybrid Minivan The Associated Press TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled Friday a minivan for the Japanese market that is powered by a hybrid fuel system, a combination gasoline engine and electric motor. Toyota has already sold more than 60,000 of the Prius hybrid compact cars in Japan, North America and Europe in three years. Fujio Cho, president of the top Japanese automaker, said his company plans to produce at least 300,000 hybrid vehicles a year by 2005. Toyota has no plans yet to export the hybrid Estima minivan, which gets 42 miles per gallon in test drives by Toyota. That's about twice the mileage of the gas-engine Estima, which has been sold in Japan, Europe and Australia, but not in North America. Hybrid vehicles switch back and forth between gas engine and electric motor, which makes for a more efficient ride and reduces emissions of the global-warming gases. It also recharges itself while driving, unlike electric cars which needing recharging. The hybrid Estima will sell for between 3.3 million yen ($27,000) and 3.6 million yen ($30,000). It delivers electric power, parked or in motion, and has electric sockets for hair-driers, laptops or microwave ovens to "add a new dimension to leisure," Toyota said. The new hybrid underlines Toyota's hopes for a growing market here of environmentally friendly vehicles as the Japanese government implements stricter anti-emission regulations and offers tax breaks and other public support for low-emission vehicles in coming years. AP-ES-06-15-01 1025EDT This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAHE0G10OC.html Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
