Maui County Press Release
June 7, 2009

WAILUKU, Maui, Hawaii-- The County-owned Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) achieved an average performance of 64 miles per gallon (MPG), according to the first monthly report from the U.S. Department of Energy. The report, which provides data for the North American PHEV Demonstration, also lists a high of 97 MPG for city driving and a low of 40 MPG for highway driving.

Currently driven by Mayor Charmaine Tavares, the Prius traveled a total of 1,175 miles during the first measured period of April 6 - 30, 2009, with a total of 132 trips taken and the battery charged 53 times. Following its conversion from a standard Prius to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the car was unveiled and put on the road April 6, 2009. Since then, it has served as a roving educational tool in the community and as a test subject in the Idaho National Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Vehicle Testing of converted PHEVs. Data on the usage of the County vehicle is transmitted wirelessly to INL and compiled monthly on an individual and national basis. This first report of 64 MPG average for the car driven by the Mayor compares to other averages of 59, 53, 49 and 44 that have been reported by other vehicles in the national study.

The County's PHEV contains an additional battery pack that can be recharged by plugging the car in to an ordinary electrical outlet, thus decreasing the use of gasoline and increasing the range of electric-powered trips. As with standard hybrid vehicles, battery power is also recharged during braking.

"One of the goals of the study is to demonstrate that advanced technology can help us transition away from fossil fuels, and the high MPGs being reported are evidence that this can actually work," said Mayor Charmaine Tavares. "As Maui increasingly generates electricity from renewable sources, and as PHEVs and electric vehicles become more widely available, we can make even more progress in decreasing our dependency on imported oil."

For the 1,175 miles driven during the initial test period, Mayor Tavares reported spending a total of $86.86 including $46.59 for unleaded gasoline, and $40.27 for electricity (based on 161.1 kilowatt hours @ $.25). The car's range per fill-up averaged 450 miles.

For more information on the County's PHEV performance, contact Victor Reyes, County of Maui Energy Commissioner, at (808) 270-7203.