A fleet of 70 cars was deployed in the city in April 2010, and has since covered almost 2.5 million miles as part of the study. Information gathered was fed back to Toyota for development of the production Prius Plug-in, and will be used to help roll out a recharging infrastructure in the city over the coming years.

On average, the fleet was charged 1.1 times per day, with 60% of recharging carried out at work and 37% at home. Public infrastructure was deemed useful for supplementary charging, with vehicles charged 1.6 times per day recording a 70% reduction in fuel consumption compared to a petrol counterpart.

Alain Fontanel, deputy mayor of Strasbourg and vice-president of Finances in charge of electric mobility at the Urban Community of Strasbourg, said public infrastructure remains a prioirity: ‘The expansion of the network must be an incentive, the challenge now lays in building a sufficiently dense grid and in vehicle charging speed, so that motorists can opt for the best mode of transportation and the most environmentally friendly vehicle.’