Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Makes Major Fleet Switch to Toyota Hybrids

The NHS in Cornwall is taking steps to help protect the county’s air quality by equipping its vehicle fleet with 57 new Toyota petrol-electric hybrids.

The Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has signed a deal to replace a selection of its current pool cars with Toyota Yaris Hybrids. The first cars have just gone into service with Trust staff across the county, and deliveries are expected to continue through to 2018.

“By replacing existing pool cars with hybrids, we will be reducing both our impact on local air quality and our operating costs, while supporting our staff through providing some of the most suitable and efficient vehicles available,” said Neil Hudson, the Trust’s Transport Manager.

“Selecting the Toyota Yaris Hybrid as a fleet vehicle for the NHS in Cornwall was an easy decision to make given its high fuel economy and opportunity for electric-only driving. The changes we’re making will bring the average tailpipe CO₂ emissions for our bookable pool fleet down from 103.5 to 73.5g/km, one of the lowest figures for any large pool fleet in the country.

“The new cars will be used by our staff in their work providing healthcare services in the community. We are pleased to be working with and supported by Toyota at both a local and national level and are looking forward to replacing more of the pool fleet with Toyota Yaris Hybrid cars in 2018.”

Neil Broad, General Manager Toyota Fleet Services, said: “With our hybrid sales up 42 per cent year-on-year so far in 2017, this deal is another example of how customers are making alternative powertrain technologies their preferred choice in ever-greater numbers. Our petrol-electric hybrid technology is efficient, reliable and works without the car having to be taken off the road to be plugged in for recharging.

“By focusing on what we can do locally in our fleet business, we are able to improve the efficiency of the process, streamlining the logistics and keeping the number of car delivery movements to a minimum. By working with the customer’s local retailer – in this case Parklands Toyota in Truro, which is looking after all the sales and servicing requirements – we can provide them with prompt and convenient support.

“The Toyota Yaris Hybrid represents our smallest available hybrid model but with clever packaging has no compromise on boot space when compared with its petrol powered equivalent model. Its highly efficient petrol-electric hybrid system has CO2 emissions starting at 75 g/km and can achieve 85 mpg in the combined cycle. With less serviceable parts than conventional models, running costs are also kept to a minimum.”