TOYOTA Motor Corp. (TMC) recently announced that cumulative sales of its hybrid vehicles in Japan have breached the two-million mark as of October 31. Globally, Toyota said it had already sold 4.6 million hybrid vehicles.

To date, there are 19 TMC-produced hybrid passenger car models and a plug-in hybrid vehicle that are sold in approximately 80 countries. Toyota said it plans to launch 20 new hybrid models by the end of 2015 and further increase its sales results.

Hybrid vehicles now comprise 40 percent of TMC’s sales in Japan and 14 percent globally.

TMC explained that hybrid vehicles run on internal-combustion engine, electric motor, or both, as directed by an intelligent energy-management system. On start-up, the electric motor power generator solely powers the vehicle with electricity from the hybrid battery, so no fuel is consumed. At normal driving speed, the internal combustion engine takes over with moderate assistance from the electric motor generator. During high-speed cruising, the electric motor generator supplements the internal combustion engine, delivering a surge of acceleration. During maximum acceleration, electric power is automatically added to engine power by a sophisticated computer control system that optimizes switching between the internal-combustion engine, electric motor, or a combination of both.

Also, every time the driver steps on the brake or releases the accelerator, a regenerative braking system harnesses kinetic energy and stores it in the hybrid battery for later use, eliminating the need to recharge the battery. With proper care, the life of the hybrid battery may be as long as that of the vehicle itself, Toyota said.

Toyota calculates that as of October 31, TMC-produced hybrid vehicles sold since 1997 have reduced CO2 emissions by around 30 million tons worldwide, and that hybrid vehicles have saved an estimated 11 million kiloliters of gasoline when compared to the amount used by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size.

In the Philippines, Toyota hybrid models sold are the Prius and Prius c, and Lexus’ LS600h, GS450h, CT200h, and RX450h.