To mark the beginning of new era in sustainable mobility in British Columbia, a ceremony was held Friday, July 17, when Toyota Canada delivered a Prius Plug-In Hybrid (PHV) to a group of BC testing partners.

These partners include BC Institute of Technology (BCIT), BC Hydro, City of Vancouver, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and the University of Victoria’s Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic). Representatives from each organization were on hand to officially ‘plug-in’ to the future and deliver the Prius PHV to the province of B.C.
To mark the occasion, B.C.’s Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap, Vancouver’s Deputy Mayor Ellen Woodsworth, BCIT’s President Don Wright, IESVic’s Curran Crawford and Toyota Canada’s Managing Director Stephen Beatty were on hand for the delivery at 1800 Spyglass Place in Vancouver.
“Partnerships that bring the public and private sectors together to spur innovations like plug-in hybrids also bring us one step closer to a low-carbon economy in this province,” said John Yap, Minister of State for Climate Action. “We expect that coupling B.C.’s clean energy resources with the cutting edge technology of plug-in hybrids will lead to a real impact on lower greenhouse gas emissions in this province.”
"We're aiming for 15% of all new vehicles to be electric or hybrid over the next decade, which is part of our goal to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020," said Mayor Gregor Robertson. "With Vancouver aggressively promoting electric vehicle infrastructure on our streets and in our buildings, the Toyota Prius Plug-in is a welcome addition to our city."
Toyota’s B.C. partners will share their Prius PHV, which will be fitted with telematics equipment to record vehicle and hybrid system performance.
“We continue to work with industry and government partners to prepare for the electrification of transportation in B.C.,” said Dave Cobb, President & CEO, BC Hydro. “We look forward to observing how Toyota's plug-in hybrid interacts with our system and to learning more about the role BC Hydro could play in powering transportation in B.C.”
“We are proud to be a part of research using leading edge technology like the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle," said Don Wright, president of BCIT. "This is a great opportunity for BCIT to contribute to the increased energy efficiency and reduction in greenhouse gases that are essential to creating the green economy in British Columbia."
Canada has been selected as one of the participating countries for Toyota’s global test of the Prius PHV. Five Prius PHV vehicles hit Canadian roads this summer in the first phase of a nationwide trial, with 15 trial partners in 4 provinces: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Québec. This project had been announced last March at the Vancouver International Auto Show (were the photo above was taken).