Toyota, Yamaha unveil connected electric trike, e-bike

With populations in urban centers expected to surge over the next few decades, auto manufacturers are looking beyond cars to find ways to mobilize the population without using more fossil fuels. Toyota teamed up with Yamaha to show off a couple of electric bicycle concepts at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. They're not the first companies to tackle e-bikes, but they could be the first companies to show how these non-traditional EVs can be connected to smart grids.

The three-wheeled EC-Miu and the electrically power-assisted Pas With bicycle are designed to work with the Toyota Smart Center, an advanced smart grid energy-management system designed for homes, businesses, and power companies, which means your e-bike will be another appliance you can manage online.

Commuters will be able to recharge these e-bikes using the same G-Station charging stations used by electric vehicles. Embedded Wi-Fi capability will give riders a way to use smartphone-based navigation and telematics services.

The manufacturers went one step further and modeled how electric bicycles could be integrated in city-wide bike-sharing programs, creating a mashup of Daimler's electric Car2Go program in San Diego and Paris' Velib project. By giving commuters a way to get from A to B without breaking a sweat, these electric bike concepts could make it easier to opt for two or three wheels instead of four, which would help ease congestion on city streets. However, they'll still have the problem of creating helmet hair.

No information on range, speed, or charging times were given in the news statement, but for comparison, the Smart eBike has a range of about 62 miles and a top speed of about 15 mph.

source:http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57333645-1

Toyota’s Latest Concept Car – 'Smartphone on Four Wheels'

Japanese car maker Toyota has unveiled a new concept car which is designed like a smartphone, featuring multiple touch screen panels on the outside The Fun-Vii, which stands for vehicle interactive internet, was unveiled by the company ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, in order to showcase what the car maker plans for the future, when drivers will be able to interact with their cars in a way similar to how they use a smartphone.

The car's outside is embedded with a series of touch screen panels that allow the driver to change the body colour and display content. The company said that people will also be able to customise the interior of the car depending on their mood According to the concept images released by Toyota, the car's windshield will come with augmented reality capabilities and will also feature a virtual assistant for navigation and other driving related information.

Toyota has no plans to launch the car in the mainstream market but aims to demonstrate how technology can be used to make cars with great design and interactiveness with the external environment.

Source : itproportal.com

Nissan LEAF to lead the charge with noisemaker tech in Australia; Toyota says no for now

Toyota has released a video detailing its latest Vehicle Proximity Notification System (VPNS) – a system designed to improve the safety of pedestrians and other road users around near-silent hybrid and electric vehicles by emitting audible warnings – but don’t expect our Prius to get the technology any time soon.

VPNS broadcasts a range of low- and high-pitched noises when travelling below 15mph (24km/h). The pitch of the tone increases and decreases depending on the vehicle’s speed (a function called ‘pitch-shifting’).

Toyota engineers in the US say the system will improve road safety for cyclists, or pedestrians who may be distracted by mobile phones, and insists it will be especially important to the independence of blind pedestrians who rely on audible warnings from vehicles.

Toyota describes the sound as “automotive in nature, but still futuristic to match the advanced powertrain of our hybrid vehicle”, and says it has been developed to remain effective around other ambient noises and parked cars.

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