Car-Editors.news: 24.10.2023

Tokyo 2023: Toyota shows mobility for all

In addition to studies for next-generation electric vehicles, Toyota is showing prototypes, technologies, tricycles and wheelchairs at the Japan Mobility Show, which begins Thursday in Tokyo, demonstrating that the company is committed to the principle of "mobility for all." Even space travelers are being considered.

With the 5.15-meter-long, seven-seat Land Cruiser Se, Toyota shows what an all-electric SUV from the brand could look like. The EPU, also over five meters long, is the vision of a pickup truck for the electric age. Of a much smaller caliber is the Land Hopper electric tricycle, which folds up to be carried in the trunk and serves as transportation for getting from the parking lot to a downtown area that may be closed to car traffic. The small motorized bike is intended for people 16 and older, but equally for seniors. A driver's license would not be required.The JUU is a wheelchair that is also powered by electricity and can climb stairs up to 16 centimeters high. The extendable rear stabilizes the JUU. For the drive, Toyota uses automotive components for quality and safety reasons. Other functions are also conceivable, so that the wheelchair can move independently into the rear of a car as soon as its user has moved into the driver's seat - and roll back when the user wants to get out.The electrically powered Mission Moon prototype, on the other hand, is a nearly 3.50-meter-long, two-seat space vehicle that is said to be able to negotiate boulders up to 50 centimeters high and climb 25-degree slopes with its individually responsive and steerable wheels. The refined technology will be used in space vehicles such as the Lunar Cruiser.With the Neo Steer, Toyota is also presenting a new cockpit concept in which the accelerator and brake are operated via levers on the airplane-like steering wheel. (aum)