IN RECENT YEARS, consumers are more aware of improved fuel efficiencies, sustainability of the environment, carbon footprints and emissions – and as such consumers are putting these into discern decisions in their personal transport – in this respect, the most advanced and proven technology would be the hybrid vehicles.

Toyota, for many years, has been an advocate and pioneer of sustainability within the auto industry – and thru the years have researched and designed many vehicles towards that goal – and in the process accumulated a wealth of know-how over - and cumulated into the world’s first ever mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle, the Prius, in 1997. As the engineers at Toyota then anticipated the concerns of the high dependency on finite resources as well as the impact automotives have on the environment. And the constant challenge is to achieve greater performances while obtaining cleaner emissions.

The main characteristic that sets Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive apart from the conventional combustion engines is the combination of two parallel and independent power sources; the perfect synergy between an electric motor and gasoline in an engine of a car. This system intelligently makes the most efficient use of both power sources to match the needs of the driver.

This hybrid system is capable of travelling approximately twice the distance on a tank of gasoline as compared to a conventional car of the same class. This is due to the seamless synchronization between the engine and the battery. And for the record, the battery in the Toyota hybrid is completely maintenance free! Using the regenerative braking system in Hybrid Synergy Drive, the vehicle recharges itself effortlessly.

With the recent launch of the all new Third Generation Toyota Prius in the Singapore market, consumers are able to experience the car that brings maximum performance and better fuel economy, and much cleaner emissions.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive is the future potential of the technology. Although it currently combines an electric motor with a gasoline engine, the flexible nature and design on this system means that electric power can be applied to engines running on a variety of fuels such as diesel, biofuel or hydrogen fuel cells, as well as plug-in charging. This is all about sustainable eco-driving.