Toyota Motor North America Donates Prius to the National Arbor Day Foundation

Nebraska City, NE -- Toyota Motor North America, Inc., has donated a 2002 Prius to The National Arbor Day Foundation. The Foundation will use the automobile at Arbor Day Farm and Lied Conference Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

The Prius is the world's first mass-produced hybrid automobile. It uses advanced technology to combine a gas engine with an electric motor to create an environmentally conscious, fuel-efficient, hybrid sedan that achieves an average of 48 miles per gallon of gasoline. The Prius has been certified as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV), as it runs nearly 75 percent cleaner than the standard for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV). This achievement is due to its sophisticated hybrid system and design, which focuses on energy efficiencies.

The Foundation's Arbor Day Farm was once the agricultural estate of Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton. Along with many of the original barns, buildings, and orchards, the farm now includes interpretive tree trails, a working apple processing operation, and a conservation tree demonstration area. The environmentally friendly Lied Conference Center, adjacent to the farm, uses a state-of-the-art fuelwood plant for energy to operate the facility year-round. The conference facility is utilized by organizations and businesses from around the United States.

"The Prius is an outstanding example of how new technology can give us better, more ecologically friendly means of transportation. Congratulations to Toyota for developing such an advanced, fuel-efficient automobile," said John Rosenow, President of The National Arbor Day Foundation. "It fits perfectly with our environmental mission, and we are grateful for this gift from our friends at Toyota Motor North America."

Toyota is America's fourth largest carmaker and manufactures more than one million cars per year in North America. Since 1991, Toyota has provided more than $176 million to support education, the environment, health and human services, community development, humanitarian aid and the arts in the United States. As a member of the American business community since 1957, Toyota has made a substantial investment in its North American operations. This investment reached more than $13 billion by the end of 2001. Toyota has supported the Foundation's environmental education programs and tree-planting activities for the past two years. For more information about the Prius, visit http://www.toyota.com.

Founded in 1972, The National Arbor Day Foundation is a non-profit organization established to help people plant and care for trees. The Foundation's national membership has grown to nearly one million members, distributing eight million trees to its members in the past year. For additional information about The National Arbor Day Foundation, visit arborday.org, call (402) 474-5655, or write to: The National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410.

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