Toyota and the Environment

Toyota first began assessing technology that could improve our environment for the 21st century in the 1990s and the first Toyota Hybrid System using gasoline and electric power was developed. There are now six Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles offered in the U.S. and over 1.5 million hybrids have been sold worldwide. If just one automaker had to be named for improving the environment, Toyota must come to mind first, as they were the pioneers of the hybrid and have sold more than any other car company.

It was not easy to design an environmentally advanced automobiles, considering the fact that, while consumers would not only want the added environmental benefit, but also the features they excpect in a quality vehicle such comfort, power, and price.  As the demands for better performance and a lower price have increased, Toyota has met the challenge with the Prius.  Its fuel efficiency and vehicle performance have steadily improved since 1998, so has its size.  Prius' emissions have become cleaner, as the certification rating has evolved from Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) to Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) to Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV). AT-PZEV vehicles are 70% cleaner than the average new car and have zero evaporative emissions.