Toyota Hybrid & Electric Vehicles Electrify New York

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2002; The City and State of New York have purchased a total of 574 Toyota Prius hybrid electric-gasoline cars since early last year for use by various civic agencies. This puts the City at the head of a nationwide roster of municipalities -- from Oregon to Maine -- that have found the 52-mile-per-gallon (mpg), 4-door sedans perfect for their transportation needs.

Last year, the City of New York bought 231 Prius hybrids for use by a variety of municipal agencies including Parks and Recreation, the Department of Buildings, the Department of Health and the Department of Transportation. Thanks to the cars' combination of cutting-edge technology and traditional Toyota reliability, the City has ordered another 221 this year.

In addition, Toyota has donated free use of 26 all-electric, zero-emission RAV4-EV sport utility vehicles to various New York City agencies over the past two years to support the city's recovery efforts and assist in restoring area air quality.

"With the backing of senior Toyota management in both Japan and the U.S., these donations reflect the company's commitment to the environment and community involvement," said Len Fein, product planning manager for advanced technology at Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.

New York State's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bought 56 Prius hybrids for use in bus control, route management, and support operations last year. This year, the State ordered 66 more.

Introduced in 1997, the Prius is the world's first mass-produced hybrid electric-gas vehicle. It can run on gasoline, electricity or both, and never has to be plugged in -- its extremely low-emissions gasoline engine recharges the onboard battery pack when necessary. The engine also shuts off when the auto comes to a stop, so it never wastes gas or causes pollution by idling in traffic. It restarts automatically when needed.

Thanks to its breakthrough technology, the 5-seat Prius is EPA rated at 52 mpg in city driving and 45 mpg on the highway. It is also classified as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) by the EPA, which is 90 percent cleaner than its closest competitor. The only thing cleaner is an all-electric zero-emissions vehicle.

Including New York, government agencies across the nation have purchased nearly 1,100 Prius sedans for clean, efficient transportation and official business. So far this year, California has ordered 113, the State of Washington 92, Houston 62, Los Angeles 52, Oregon 46, San Francisco 22, Austin 21, Florida DEP 19, Nevada 19, Colorado 18, Denver 15, Missouri 12, San Antonio 11 and Maine 5. Even such smaller cities as Vail, Colo. and Mesquite, Tex. have ordered one or two of the Toyota hybrids.

Worldwide, Toyota has sold more than 100,000 Prius hybrid sedans. The company also sells hybrid luxury sedans, 4-wheel-drive minivans and commuter buses in Japan. Nine out of 10 hybrid vehicles on the road today are Toyotas.