Toyota showed a prototype of the world's first hybrid flexible-fuel vehicle at an event it held in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo last week.

The prototype, based on the Toyota Prius model, is a combination of a flexible-fuel vehicle that can run on both gasoline and alternative fuels such as ethanol, and the company’s hybrid system which joins together a combustion engine and an electrical powertrain.

Flexible-fuel cars are popular in Brazil, which is a large producer of ethanol. According to Toyota's initial studies a hybrid flexible-fuel vehicle offers a substantial environmental advantage compared to a standard flexible-fuel vehicle, which are even greater if it is fueled only by sugarcane-based ethanol.

"I am very proud of our Toyota do Brasil engineers that worked closely with our engineers in Japan to develop the world's cleanest hybrid vehicle that uses ethanol for our Brazilian customers,” said Steve St Angelo, head of Toyota Latin America Region and Caribbean.

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