The Future, as seen by Toyota

Poised to become the No. 1 carmaker in the world, and producer of the Corolla and Camry, two of the most successful and recognized model ranges ever, when Toyota develops a car for the future, its definitely worth taking a second look. At the 2005 Aichi World Expo in Japan, Toyota showed off a number of interesting concept cars, but by far the most radical was the i-unit, a single-seater mobility pod. Powered by a lithium-ion battery and an electric motor, the design for the i-unit was inspired by a leaf. A development from the PM concept car that Toyota showed at the 2005 Tokyo Motorshow, the i-unit assumes an upright and compact stance in town, but gets lower and longer as it moves faster. The i-unit also features some radical ideas about driver interface, some including the recognition of the driver’s veins! Another interesting feature is that the i-unit’s body panels are made from kenaf the fiber from a quick growing and CO2 absorbing plant grown in South East Asia. If the i-unit was shown off by any other car maker, it would easily be dismissed as pure fantasy. But as the level-headed engineers at Toyota have developed it, it may very well be the Corolla of the future! Check it out at: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/emerging_tech/i-unit/about.html