For fleet managers looking to reduce costs and improve emissions, operating a hybrid vehicle must seem an easy decision. While most manufacturers’ hybrids will deliver savings and improve a fleet’s environmental credentials, look closer and you’ll see many only do part of the job of a Toyota Hybrid.

Nearly every hybrid on the market is equipped with engine stop-start technology. This saves fuel and reduces emissions by switching off the engine when you stop, for example at traffic lights, then back on when you start moving again.

More advanced hybrids use electric energy stored in their batteries to support the engine, for instance, during overtaking, and to power ancillary items such as lights, air conditioning and radio. Their batteries are normally recharged with the energy recovered when you brake.

But there’s one thing these hybrids won’t do, they don’t drive on battery power alone.

Toyota Hybrids are known as ‘hybrid-electric’ vehicles because they incorporate two energy sources, one petrol, one electric. Having two engines that can operate independently of each other is what marks Toyota Hybrid out as different from other hybrids. As a result, you can use electric power to pull away from a standstill and even cruise at speeds of up to 25 km/h, meaning zero fuel consumption, zero tailpipe emissions and a near-silent drive for up to 50% of your journey.

And because all our hybrid electric vehicles are self-charging, you don’t have to plug them in to recharge their batteries. That’s because our hybrids feature ‘regenerative braking’. When you brake or ‘coast’, a generator produces electricity to be stored in the battery for later. That means no stopping for time-consuming and inconvenient battery top-ups on longer business trips.

If you think your business can benefit from longer electric driving, greater fuel tank range and ultra-low CO2 emissions, a vehicle like the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid could be the answer. Built on the foundations of our existing petrol-electric hybrids, it is equipped with a more powerful battery that allows you to drive for over 50 km and at speeds as high as 135 km/h using electric power alone.

Because driving only partially recharges a plug-in’s battery, to utilise their full electric capabilities and reduce the amount of petrol you consume, they need to be plugged into mains power for a full battery charge. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid can be fully recharged in less than three hours, and although there’s no requirement to do so – unlike in an electric vehicle – you’ll get the best results that way. For example, fully-charged, a Prius Plug-in Hybrid can complete a 1,300 km* business trip on a single tank of fuel.

While our hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles are ideal for longer distances, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are still best suited to short, low-speed journeys, where they are a great way to improve mobility and reduce pollution in urban areas.

These compact, zero-emission vehicles, powered by batteries that are quick to recharge, can improve air quality and ease traffic congestion. They are quiet, easy to drive and have low running costs, making them perfect for commuting journeys or as delivery vehicles.

That’s why we will be launching more than 10 BEVs by the early 2020s, as well as increasing our plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicle line-up for both passenger and commercial use.



^{*Total range is calculated on a one-go drive journey combining the EV range (with full charge) and the range on Hybrid mode at 3.41/100km. These values are measured in a controlled environment on a production vehicle, in accordance with the requirements of European law published by the European Commission.}