Toyota Hybrid

Toyota is not only the automotive industry leader in hybrid car research, its hybrid cars are the most popular with consumers. Toyota's dedication to hybrid development set it apart early, and its continued efforts ensure year after year that no other automaker can come close to the successes of its flagship hybrid; the Toyota Prius.

In 1993, after being denied participation in the Partnership for the Next Generation of Vehicles, Toyota began developing the Prius. By 1997 it was available for sale in Japan, the first car of its kind. Consumer enthusiasm fueled research and production developments that only three years later allowed the Prius to be sold internationally. The reception was so great that it took nearly a year to fill internet orders alone, but by 2002, the Prius was available at any Toyota dealership, if not for long. Even with a marked increase in production, there is a waiting list for a new Prius hybrid to this day.

While Toyota is certainly continuing to improve the Prius, it is setting its sights on another market: the hybrid SUV. The Toyota Highlander hybrid has been developed to interest not only the environmentally conscious, but the practical; Toyota's green SUV not only thrusts up to 7 people forward with 270 horses, it has been engineered to meet the EPA's much coveted SULEV rating. Arriving "early 2005" the Highlander Hybrid will most likely be the world's first 7 person hybrid SUV.

Why stop with having the first hybrid car and full size hybrid suv on the market? Toyota's sentiments exactly. Before March of 2005, Toyota will have unleashed its newest hybrid creation on the US market: the Toyota Priapus, or Toyota Volta. Either way, it will be the world's first production hybrid sports car. The Priapus reaches 60 mph from a stop in just over 4 seconds, while still maintaining a fuel economy of 30 miles to the gallon, nearly 3 times that of any comparable sports car on the market.