Crossing the Sahara Desert in a Prius PHV

Team ACP was formed in 1979 by a group of Japanese driving enthusiasts who wanted to prepare themselves for the Dakar Rally. They got hooked after their foray and participated in subsequent rallies, driving from Paris to Dakar annually for the next 12 years. From their experiences driving through the desert, the team members developed an appreciation of different cultures, as well as increased concern for the environmental issues that the world faces.

After the Prius was launched in 1997, Team ACP was presented with the opportunity to drive the Prius on expeditions in 5 different continents from North America to Africa over a 10-year period. This allowed them to test the feasibility of driving hybrid electrified vehicles in different parts of the world under varying conditions. At the same time, the team leveraged the publicity from their expeditions to cast a light on efforts made in different regions toward green energy and other sustainability projects.

This time, Team ACP retraced the Paris-Dakar route that they first took almost 40 years ago, and set off from Paris for Dakar in March 2018. All they drove on their expedition across the vast Sahara Desert were a Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid vehicle) as the main vehicle and a Land Cruiser for support.

We are pleased to share their 7,000-kilometer adventure on this page.