Aim: Zero Emissions – Toyota Driving Forward Sustainable Technologies

Aim: Zero Emissions – Toyota Driving Forward Sustainable Technologies

As one of the world’s foremost automotive manufacturers, Toyota has long been an advocate of reducing the environmental impact of a car – not only through CO2 reductions, but also throughout the entire vehicle life cycle. With its ‘aim: zero emissions’ ethos, Toyota is creating sustainable mobility by implementing programmes which examine every aspect of vehicle design, performance, manufacture and disposal.

Toyota Motor Europe is promoting ‘aim: zero emissions’ through a pan-European print and interactive campaign on leading websites such as iht.com, economist.com, ft.com and nationalgeographic.com. Equally, ‘Green Design’ movies, sponsored by Toyota, highlight cutting-edge environmental technologies which bring tangible benefits to consumers today. These are currently featured on major television channels including Euronews, BBC World and National Geographic.

Toyota has effectively set the pace towards zero emissions vehicles with its hybrid engine technology – the cleanest engine technology on the market today. Current hybrid systems utilise a highly-efficient petrol engine linked to a powerful zero emissions electric motor. The electric motor is the main power source whilst the petrol engine cuts in when extra power is needed for overtaking or motorway cruising, or to recharge the batteries. Toyota believes that advances in battery technology will continue to improve the performance of electric motors, further reducing emissions from hybrid vehicles.

Toyota launched the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car – the Prius – in 1997, and is the leading manufacturer of hybrid vehicles, with over 750,000 sold to date. The launch of the Lexus RX 400h in 2005 brought hybrid power trains to the SUV market. The GS 450h luxury sedan was launched in May 2006, and the flagship model, the LS 600h, is due in May 2007. Within the next few years, Toyota will expand its hybrid model line up two-fold, and expects to sell over 1 million hybrid cars annually by the early 2010s.

Meanwhile, Toyota has realised immediate environmental benefits – such as a 37% reduction in energy usage, a 34% reduction in water usage, and a 21% reduction in emissions from paint usage – through the Toyota Production System (TPS) across its eight European plants.

While Toyota continues to examine the impact of the total vehicle life cycle, research continues into hybrid technology as well as other fossil fuel alternatives, including compressed gas, bio ethanol fuels and hydrogen fuel cells.

For more about Toyota’s environmental initiatives:

www.aimzeroemissions.eu