Toyota wraps up 3-year Strasbourg Prius PHV demo project; average 46% reduction in fuel consumption compared to gasoline ICE vehicles

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has completed its three-year plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) demonstration project jointly carried out with Électricité de France (EDF) and the City and the Urban Community of Strasbourg in France.

The partners revealed the final conclusions collected from this large-scale demonstration, in which approximately 70 units of the Prius PHV were provided to Strasbourg. Data was accumulated by utilizing the 145 dedicated charging stations installed in the city by EDF to identify vehicles and exchange information. The vehicles travelled more than a total of 4 million kilometers (2.485 million miles) during the project. Among the findings were:

• The plug-ins achieved an average 46% reduction in fuel consumption compared to conventional gasoline vehicle of similar size with an average charging frequency of 1.1 times a day.
• A direct correlation between the recharging frequency and fuel consumption: higher charging frequency leads to lower fuel consumption.
  For example, Toyota said, take a user that recharges 1.6 times a day. While driving 40% in hybrid mode and 60% in electric mode, the user obtains levels of approximately 70% of reduction in fuel consumption compared to a conventional gasoline vehicle of similar size. This represents an estimated saving of €1,400 (US$1,800) on an annual basis, assuming that the car drives around 20,000 km (12,400 miles) a year.
• 60% of the recharges are carried out at work and 37% at home. Public charging points are welcomed by users for supplementary charging. Scheduled charging leads to CO₂ emissions reductions of 10% to 15%.
• Average cost of recharge is around €0.30 (US$0.40) (all costs included).
• Up to 61% of CO₂ emissions can be reduced compared to conventional gasoline cars of similar size.

Thanks to the participation from the citizens of Strasbourg, Toyota was able to acquire valuable data for the further promotion of PHV technologies. Based on the results that were obtained from this demonstration project, we intend to offer technologies more accessible for widespread adoption.

—Michel Gardel, vice-president of communications and external and environmental affairs at Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA

Toyota launched the Prius Plug-in in Japan at the beginning of 2012, followed by introductions in North America and Europe. To date, around 31,100 plug-ins have been sold, equivalent to 1.5 times the number of Prius sold in a full year when launched in 2000. For Europe, the year-to-date figure amounts to 4,417 units, with sales starting only end of summer 2012.

EDF, with the support of its subsidiary Electricité de Strasbourg (ES group), incorporated innovative features into the charging infrastructure put in place for the project. One of these features automatically shifts vehicle charging time to off-peak period, benefiting from reduced power costs. In addition, an internet based monitoring service enabled users to verify that the average cost of a recharge did not exceed €0.30.

To make the system even more customer friendly, EDF and its subsidiary, Sodetrel, developed a smartphone application to geolocate charging points and check their availability.

The Urban Community of Strasbourg is now moving forward to engage in the cross border program CROME (Cross Border Mobility for Electric Vehicle). New outlets meeting European standards for electric vehicles have been installed, some allowing full charge of an electric vehicle within two hours. Both users of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will benefit from these new charging points.