Over 600 Toyota Prius Plug-In Tested On Four Continents

Toyota will test over 600 Prius units which can be recharged from a regular AC outlet to see the feasibility of these models before giving them to the general public.

The Japanese at Toyota have started a large project aiming at testing a fleet of Prius plug-in version. This partnership is developed with France’s EDF and the urban community of Strasbourg. The project involves testing of 100 electric vehicles that can be recharged from a regular outlet to see their impact on the dedicated recharge infrastructure to assess how they are used by their temporary owners.

The entire testing project involves 600 Toyota Prius PHEV units that will be tested in Canada, USA, Japan and Australia. For the users in Belgium, the energy suppliers from EDF will install over 150 points of recharge to users’ homes, in partners’ parking pots in public parkings and even on public roads. Thus, these vehicles can operate with a minimum amount of fuel needed to propel the entire energy is obtained at specific recharging sites.

Some vehicles are equipped with an innovative recharging system developed by France’s EDF. It may control the relationship between the recharging point and the vehicle battery to ensure a safe load and maximum efficiency. The aim of this system is to identify the that vehicle is recharged and to facilitate the billing for the energy it consumes. Five Toyota Prius PHEV units will be tested in Strasbourg, a local company of operational leasing will receive three units, and the other two will be offered to all public institutions and companies.