UCI to test new electric vehicle

UC Irvine has been selected as one of two universities nationwide to test Toyota's new hybrid electric car, in a statewide research program to determine whether electric transportation is practical and environmentally sound.

UCI's Advanced Power and Energy Program will receive $1.4 million over two years to analyze the new Toyota, which features an on-board battery that lasts longer than those of current hybrids. Southern California Edison, the Energy Commission and the South Coast Air Quality Management District are among the institutions participating in the study.

UC Berkeley is the only other American university receiving a pre-commercial model of the Toyota hybrid.

"This affords the state a tremendous opportunity to better understand this emerging vehicle technology, and we are excited to be a part of this effort," Scott Samuelsen, the director of the Advanced Power and Energy Program, said in a news release.

UCI has partnered with Toyota since 2002 in testing cars that combine electricity with hydrogen-powered fuel cells. That year, Toyota provided the university's National Fuel Cell Research Center with its first hybrid vehicle in the United States, then added a second one in 2004. The campus has remained involved in the movement toward ecological transportation, opening a hydrogen fueling station in February.

"UCI has been a great research partner for many years, and the research to be conducted on the air quality impacts of plug-in hybrids will be critical in making key development decisions about the technology," Dave Illingworth, the senior vice president and chief planning officer for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., said in a news release.