ENVIRONMENT AGENCY GETS BEHIND TOYOTA PRIUS
02 March 2005 - Toyota

The Toyota Prius petrol-electric hybrid car, winner of the 2005 European Car of The Year has achieved the top score on the Environment Agency lease car list.

The scheme, which is administered for the Agency by Hitachi Capital, provides suitable cars for those staff who need a vehicle to carry out their duties.

The Agency evaluates the full range of exhaust emissions, not just CO2, and only those vehicles with a score below a pre-determined cut-off point are included in the scheme. The Prius has come out with the lowest score and is a key vehicle on the fleet from an environmental point of view. It also has the benefit of being exempt from the London congestion charges.

The Environment Agency is the leading public body for protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales. Its activities range from influencing Government policy and regulating major industries nationally to local monitoring and clean-up operations.

More than 11,000 staff work from two head, eight regional and 26 area offices, providing 22 national services. The EA''s £800 million-plus budget comes from licensing income, flood-defence levies and government grants.

Fifteen Toyota Prius have so far been supplied to Environment Agency employees and 13 more are on order. The Toyota Avensis, Corolla and Yaris also qualify for the Agency''s fleet.

''This is a welcome vote of confidence in the Prius and Toyota''s volume car models from the country''s most influential environmental body,'' said Toyota Fleet General Manager Jon Pollock. ''We look forward to supplying its staff with more cars in line with rising demand for greener vehicles.''

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