Toyota has sold 8 million hybrids since the first Prius was built

The hybrid vehicle market is settling down little by little, and we are seeing more and more cars that use electricity to move. Twenty years ago, electric cars were almost science fiction and still far from being popular among buyers. Back then, Toyota began working on a concept close to that of electric cars, but combined with a petrol engine. It was about to launch the first mass-produced hybrid, the Toyota Prius.

It went on sale in 1997, after several years of research. Toyota bet on this technology, which was not free of problems. There was even something serious: the engineers had the car assembled and everything ready, but it took them 49 days to get it to move normally. Even after more than a month of work, they only managed to get it to travel 500 metres. A disaster that did not discourage them.

Twenty years on from this milestone, other brands have joined Toyota’s vehicles, each offering their own proposals for this type of vehicle. But they say that whoever strikes first strikes twice. So Toyota kept working, and today it has announced that it has already sold 8 million units of its hybrid models. Twenty months ago the figure was 6 million, which shows that this technology is growing and gradually gaining success among buyers. The latest million units were sold in just 10 months, which is already an important milestone.

According to the company, these 8 million hybrid vehicles have helped prevent 58 million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere, and have saved 22 billion litres of petrol in their journeys, compared with the same vehicles running on traditional fuel.

Since that first Prius hybrid went on sale in 1997, Toyota has developed 30 hybrid models, including one plug-in. In addition, it has just launched new hybrid models, such as the Lexus RC300h and the Esquire Hybrid, for the Japanese market only for now. Will hybrid cars win the race among alternative fuels? For now, it seems there are more and more of them, and they could be a good alternative. What do you think?

Via | Carscoops