Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it has unveiled in Brazil a prototype of the world's first hybrid vehicle that runs on ethanol to further cut carbon dioxide emissions, aiming to launch the model in the country in one to two years.

(Supplied Photo)

The prototype is a combination of a flexible-fuel vehicle that is powered by both gasoline and ethanol and Toyota's hybrid car.

The model will be able to curb CO2 emissions even more than the current FFVs if sugarcane-derived ethanol is used as the only fuel, with CO2 absorbed when the plant was growing being subtracted from the total.

FFVs make up some 90 percent of new car sales in Brazil, according to the Japanese carmaker. Toyota currently sells Corolla FFVs in the South American market.

The prototype used the Prius electric-gasoline hybrid car as a base model, but the company did not say which car line it will use for release of the ethanol hybrids.

Toyota Senior Managing Officer Steve St. Angelo described the hybrid FFV as the "world's cleanest hybrid vehicle."

"The invention demonstrates our journey in providing a new mobility society," he said in a statement released Monday.