The other partners of the demonstration project, to be managed by Clean Communities, are Syracuse University (SU), Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE), and CuseCar, a local not-for-profit community car share provider.
Clean Communities of CNY will be gathering data from SU, SyracuseCoE and CuseCar who will be driving Prius PHV for 12 to 24 months. Each participant group will have two vehicles that will be rotated for use every two months.
The data, which will show the fuel economy, miles driven, charging times and additional content regarding the performance of the PHVs, will be used in the development of the future Prius PHV coming to market in 2012.
The Prius PHV features Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system and is powered by lithium-ion batteries, which can be recharged in approximately three hours from a standard 110V electrical outlet. The PHV can run on electricity for approximately 13 miles at speeds up to 62mph.
The project will deploy a total of 150 PHVs across the US and 600 throughout the world to demonstrate plug-in hybrid technology, educate and inform the public about the cars, and capture real-world driving data.
Under this project, CuseCar will install 75 EV charging stations throughout the Onondaga County area in Syracuse to prepare the community for use of EVs in the future.
