Mumbai: Toyota Motor Corporation has unveiled its road-ready plug-in hybrid, bringing the future where drivers would queue up to plug in rather than stop for gas or petrol a bit nearer.

Japan''s transport ministry has certified the Pirus plug-in version, which uses a gas-powered combustion engine and electric motor like earlier hybrids, but has a bigger battery capacity for longer electric-motor range.

Toyota, the leader in gasoline-electric vehicle sales in the US, will team up with the universities on cleaner, more fuel-efficient versions of its Prius sedan.

Toyota said it would partner with two California universities to test so-called plug-in versions of its Prius hybrid, cars that would be capable of travelling farther and faster than current models on electricity alone.

Toyota also said it had won permission from the Japanese government to begin road-testing plug-in hybrids in its home country.

The automaker said it would provide plug-in prototypes to researchers at UC Irvine and UC Berkeley as part of the schools'' continuing study of sustainable modes of transportation.

Toyota''s decision to move forward with plug-in research comes even as Ford Motor Co. announced a partnership this month with Southern California Edison to test plug-in versions of its Escape hybrid sport utility vehicle.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally had said it could be five to 10 years before the company had plug-ins in its showrooms.

Including vehicles sold under its Lexus luxury nameplate, Toyota currently accounts for about 80 per cent of hybrid sales in the US.

Although hybrids account for only about 2 per cent of US new-vehicle sales, Toyota''s hybrid sales — led by the Prius sedan — jumped almost 70 per cent during the first half of 2007 from the same period a year earlier.

Since introducing the Prius, the company has sold more than 1 million hybrids worldwide.