Toyota, UC campuses to test plug-in hybrid cars.

Toyota Motor Corp., the leading seller of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in the U.S., said today that it would partner with two California universities to test so-called plug-in versions of its Prius hybrid, cars that would be capable of traveling 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.