Toyota testing plug-in hybrid vehicles

DETROIT, July 25 (UPI) -- Toyota said Wednesday it is in a race with General Motors to develop the industry's first plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The Japanese car maker said in Detroit that Toyota hybrids are being tested with rechargeable batteries in the United States and Japan. It was the first official word that Toyota was ready to move into the next phase of hybrid production, The New York Times said.

Toyota already is the world's biggest producer of conventional hybrid-electric vehicles, which combine a gasoline motor and a battery. Environmentalists say the plug-ins may prove to be cleaner and more fuel efficient.

Toyota has sold more than 1 million hybrids worldwide hybrids including 750,000 Prius cars, which enjoy their best success in the United States.

Toyota said it would provide prototype versions of plug-in hybrid vehicles to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California at Irvine.