Toyota introduced the Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid car, in 1997.
The first-generation Prius went on sale in Japan in December 1997. It combined a gasoline engine with an electric motor and battery system, allowing the vehicle to use less fuel than many conventional cars. Toyota expanded the model internationally with the second-generation Prius, which launched in 2003 and gave the distinctive hybrid shape wider recognition.
The Prius was not the first hybrid automobile ever built. Earlier experimental and limited-production hybrids existed, including the Lohner-Porsche vehicle from the early 1900s. Toyota’s achievement was bringing a modern gasoline-electric hybrid into large-scale consumer production and marketing it globally.
The name Prius comes from Latin and means “before” or “prior.” Toyota also developed hybrid systems for other models, but the Prius became the company’s best-known environmental technology symbol and helped make hybrid cars familiar to mainstream buyers.