Toyota will take the wraps off a new electric vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show next week, the RAV4 EV Concept.

Home honours were claimed by the England A Auris hybrid in the Toyota Nations Challenge on Saturday, achieving an average 72.8mpg over the 60-mile route from Brighton to London.

Rivalry has always been fierce between Britain’s home nations and Toyota is giving the English, Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish the chance for more partisan points scoring by hosting its own Nations Challenge.

Team Northern Ireland driving for national pride in Toyota’s Nations Challenge.

Team Wales driving for national pride in Toyota’s Nations Challenge.

Team Scotland driving for national pride in Toyota’s Nations Challenge.

Team England driving for national pride in Toyota’s Nations Challenge.

Zero emissions performance is one of the long-established goals of the motor industry and it’s an ambition that’s nearing reality for Toyota, as it demonstrates this weekend with the UK debut of its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the FCHV-adv.

For the historic vehicles taking part in the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, simply completing the 60-mile route might be considered achievement. A quite different test faces the fleet of hybrid Toyota models that will be to the fore in the first Brighton to London Future Car Challenge.

A white Toyota Auris parked under a Victorian railway arch in London’s East End wouldn’t normally attract too much attention, but passers-by in Shoreditch were stopped in their tracks as the seemingly ordinary car was transformed, its bodywork peeling back to reveal a pulsing blue light.

Toyota is developing its strategy for a future low carbon society by joining leading industry partners in a new real-world exercise to explore the potential of new technologies for power generation, storage and distribution.

Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, will officially launch the start of production of the all-new Auris Hybrid, during a visit to Toyota’s Burnaston Plant, Derbyshire, today (28th June, 2010).