Toyota Prius remains best-selling vehicle in California, wireless charging tests underway

About one in every nine new cars in the US are sold in the California. If we're just looking at the four Toyota Prius hybrid variants, then the number becomes closer to one in three. Tesla Model S battery-electric vehicle sales? Try one in 2.7.

For the second straight year, the Prius was the best-selling car in the Golden State. Toyota sold 69,728 Priuses there, almost a third of the more than 234,000 sold in the US in 2013. Prius sales in California alone were up almost 13 percent. And Toyota's ready to build upon that momentum with a new version of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, saying that it's testing a wireless recharging system in Japan's Aichi Prefecture and will start similar tirals stateside later this year. We'll make the wild prediction that some of those tests, which involves magnetic resonance, will be in California.

Meanwhile, Tesla's numbers were, in their own way, were more impressive. The California-based automaker sold 8,347 of its Model S units in the Golden State out of about 22,300 nationwide in 2012, Bloomberg News reports. In all, advanced-powertrain vehicles accounted for 9.3 percent of California new-vehicle sales, compared to 3.8 percent for the country, Bloomberg says, citing Hybrid Cars and Baum & Associates. Check out Toyota's press release on its California sales below. Show full PR text Prius Medals In The Golden State

Toyota Prius is best-selling vehicle line in California
Wireless charging testing for Prius Plug-in

TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prius took home the gold in 2013 as the most popular vehicle-line in California for the second year in a row. The Prius Family (Prius Liftback, Prius v, Prius c and Prius Plug-in) took the podium in both 2012 and 2013 as the best-selling California vehicle name plate. 69,728 drivers hit the road in 2013, according to the California Auto Outlook Report, while 61,893 Californians joined the family in 2012. In the Golden State, the Prius Family outsells all other hybrid competitors combined.

California drivers lead the country in adoption of vehicles powered, either wholly or partially, by electricity. 9.3% of vehicles sold in the state run on some form of electricity, according to the report. But despite the growing number of hybrid competitors, Toyota's hybrid leadership remains unmatched. In fact, one out of every two hybrids in California carries the Prius name plate.

"For many customers Prius is synonymous with hybrid, especially in California," said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Motor Sales, Inc. "When the Prius was launched in 2000, many dismissed it as a "science project", but owners were enamored by its great MPG and lower emissions for a cleaner environment. Over the last decade, Toyota has sold more than 1.5 million Prius vehicles in the U.S. and we're not slowing down anytime soon."

Toyota Leads Charge on Wireless Charging
The engineering team never stops looking for innovative ways to support and enhance the experience of those millions of customers. Toyota recently announced verification testing of a wireless battery charging system for Prius Plug-in hybrid. The system, currently being tested in Japan, will charge the vehicle by simply parking over a charge coil system on the ground. No cords, no plugs needed, making it easier for customers to enjoy the estimated 95 mpge* (miles per gallon equivalent).

Using magnetic-resonance technology, the system is designed to counteract electrical transmission issues caused by vehicle misalignment or height differences between the vehicle and charging system. To ensure the vehicle is set for optimum charging, engineers developed a parking assist function that highlights the position of the charge coil within the parking space.

Three Prius Plug-in hybrids will test the wireless charging system at homes in Aichi Prefecture, Japan over the next year. Similar testing is expected in Europe and the U.S. later this year.

*EPA rated mpge calculation based on electric-only and hybrid powertrain operation. Featured Gallery2012 Toyota Prius
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