UK debut for third-generation Toyota Prius Hybrid

The latest version of the world's most famous hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, has gone on display in the UK for the first time as part of the Revolve Eco-Rally, which showcases fuel-efficient and low emission motors.

The Revolve Eco-Rally is the first of a number of events in the UK at which the Prius can be seen as part of the build-up to the much-anticipated green car's launch this August.

The Prius (which is Latin for "to precede") is the world's best-selling hybrid, with more than 1.2m units sold since it first launched in 1997.

Production & Distribution

Sold in 170 countries around the world, nearly one in seven of the world's new cars is made by Toyota. It has helped make maritime history by shipping its cars from Japan to North America on board a ship part-powered by solar energy.

It is yet another example of how the new Prius benefits from clever use of renewable energy sources throughout its life cycle. Solar power provides a large proportion of the electricity used to power the Tsutsumi factory where it is built, and, in a first for a volume production car, Prius can be equipped with its own solar panels to run a fan to keep the cabin cool while the car is parked.

The Auriga Leader is the first vessel of its kind to use solar power in this way, capturing energy through 328 photovoltaic panels mounted on its top deck. The system produces up to 40kW of electricity, reducing demand on the engines and thus cutting both fuel use and emissions. The technology has been developed as a demonstration project by Toyota Motor Corporation and NYK Line, the vessel’s owner and operator.

The 60,000-tonne ship is 200m long and can carry 6,200 vehicles. NYK aims to reduce its car carrier fleet energy consumption by 50 per cent by 2010.

Use and Recycling

When its driving duties are done, more than 85 per cent of new Prius’s can be recycled and more than 95 per cent of its materials can be recovered in a process that only accounts for a tiny proportion (approximately two per cent) of its full lifecycle CO2 emissions.

Special attention has been paid to the efficient recycling of new Prius’s high voltage nickel-metalhydride battery with a new process that allows 95 per cent of the battery components to be recovered for re-use with near-zero emissions.

At the vehicle’s end-of-life, the battery is removed at an authorised Prius service centre. Toyota has appointed authorised waste management companies in each country where the car is sold

The recovery process begins with the removal of the battery’s outer casing, which itself can be re-used in steel making processes. All the wires and electronic parts are sent to a specialist recovery company, while the power cells themselves are recycled using an induction-based vacuum thermal system.

This is an evolution of the traditional waste heat treatment process, but it consumes less energy, is almost emissions-free and is highly secure. The power cells are then exposed to hydrogen, which helps break the oxides down into metals.

What is left after the process is a highly concentrated nickel alloy which can be re-used as a raw material in the production of new batteries. All the other metallic elements recovered can be used in the manufacture of stainless or other specialist steels.

The New Prius is on sale from 1 August 2009.