Others may have dismissed it as a nutty novelty. But now it appears
that Toyota is taking its i-Road "ultra-compact EV concept" seriously.
Toyota is lending 10 i-Road vehicles to a total of 100 participants who will swallow their motoring pride and take turns driving the vehicle for a month at a time. The 100 include average commuters as well as various experts and people considered to be trendsetters. Toyota says the project will last for a year.
Toyota says that it is going to launch the project in Tokyo in July. It appears to be aimed at trying to try to drum up more support for the idea of tiny one-person minicar that can be parked virtually anywhere in one of the world's most congested cities. The electric three-wheeler is distinguished by the way it leans into turns.
Toyota says the Open Road Project is aimed at encouraging use of the i-Road, which up until now has been an auto show fixture that few observers expected to amount to more than a design exercise. The goal of the project will be to find convenient parking — which would seem pretty easy given i-Road is a little bigger than a couple of bicycles — and encourage customization, according to Toyota.
As for parking, the car — if you dare call it that — can recharge from a 100-volt electrical outlet, so it's important that one be near the parking spot.
In return for using the i-Road, participants are required to let Toyota what they think of the vehicle and how to best use it.
Source: USAToday
Toyota is lending 10 i-Road vehicles to a total of 100 participants who will swallow their motoring pride and take turns driving the vehicle for a month at a time. The 100 include average commuters as well as various experts and people considered to be trendsetters. Toyota says the project will last for a year.
Toyota says that it is going to launch the project in Tokyo in July. It appears to be aimed at trying to try to drum up more support for the idea of tiny one-person minicar that can be parked virtually anywhere in one of the world's most congested cities. The electric three-wheeler is distinguished by the way it leans into turns.
Toyota says the Open Road Project is aimed at encouraging use of the i-Road, which up until now has been an auto show fixture that few observers expected to amount to more than a design exercise. The goal of the project will be to find convenient parking — which would seem pretty easy given i-Road is a little bigger than a couple of bicycles — and encourage customization, according to Toyota.
As for parking, the car — if you dare call it that — can recharge from a 100-volt electrical outlet, so it's important that one be near the parking spot.
In return for using the i-Road, participants are required to let Toyota what they think of the vehicle and how to best use it.
Source: USAToday
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