THE TOKYO MOTOR SHOW took place last week, with everything from electric cars and motorcycles to lawnmowers powered by artificial intelligence.
In fact, most of the products on show gave us a glimpse into the future of cars and motoring in general. From the looks of things, our future will be electric or hydrogen-powered and completely controlled by AI.
However, there were also a lot of nods to the past… including the acknowledgement that some motorists actually like driving.
Want to know what the future holds? Here are some of the forward-looking concepts that were on display at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show.
1. Honda Sports EV Concept
Honda’s funky looking Sports EV Concept gives us motorists hope for a fun, stylish and affordable electric future, with a nod to the past. It combines EV performance and AI (artificial intelligence) inside a compact body that has a hint of 1300 Coupe about it… oh, and we can see from the photos that Honda retains the steering wheel, which bodes well for those who actually like to drive.
The car also features HANA (Honda Automated Network Assistant), the “emotion engine” which learns from the driver by detecting the emotions behind the driver’s judgments and then, based on the driver’s past decisions, makes new choices and recommendations.
Apart from that, we don’t know much about the two-seat concept but Honda says the aim of the car is “to realise the joy of driving the user can feel with a sense of unity with the car.” Now, if only Honda would put this one into production…
2. Mitsubishi e-Evolution Concept
This concept SUV blends Mitsubishi Motors’ signature four-wheel drive and electric powertrain know-how with advanced AI technology. It is a tri-motor, high performance vehicle that previews the direction that the manufacturer is taking.
There is plenty of emphasis on the concept’s handling – Mitsubishi is trying to fill the hole left by the Lancer Evo and wants to build a car of the future that will appeal to driving enthusiasts. Hurrah!
To that end, there is still a steering wheel and driver control, albeit in a cabin that is more akin to a fighter jet than a car.
3. Nissan IMx Concept
The IMx provides a glimpse into the future of Nissan Intelligent Mobility, Nissan’s initiative looking at how cars are powered, driven and integrated with society to deliver a safer, more convenient and more enjoyable drive.
The EV has a single charge range of over 600km and features an all-wheel drive system.
The IMx Concept is fully autonomous. When this drive mode is selected, the system stows the steering wheel inside the dashboard and reclines all seats, giving the driver more space and allowing the vehicle’s occupants to relax and enjoy their commute. But thankfully, when Manual drive mode is selected, the vehicle returns the steering wheel and seats to their original position, transferring control back to the driver.
4. Suzuki e-Survivor Concept
Perhaps the coolest-looking concept of the whole show, this is Suzuki’s funky vision of the off-roader of the future. It builds on the success of the Jimny and Vitara but it has been reimagined for a distant future – where we apparently need to survive something that can be out paced in an open-top, T-Bar design, electric dune buggy.
The e-Survivor concept has four in-wheel electric motors for all-wheel drive capabilities and chunky tyres and massive ground clearance for some decent off-roading.
But Suzuki isn’t ignoring the past completely. This futuristic concept sits on top of a truck-derived ladder frame configuration, one of the oldest in the business. It still has a steering wheel and pedals so perhaps Suzuki is keeping it real when it comes to autonomous driving predictions – or maybe when it comes to survival, human skills and instinct are what’s going to save us.
5. Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride Fuel Cell Technology Concept
The internal combustion engine took at back seat at this year’s show as most manufacturers demonstrated their visions for a future that does not run on petroleum. Whilst most concept cars were powered by electricity and batteries, the Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride was powered by hydrogen.
Toyota also seems to think that in the future we will still love high-performance cars – so the Fine-Comfort Ride has a 220km/h top speed, can sprint to 100km/h in just 5.4 seconds and has a 1,000km range on a single fill of hydrogen sourced from renewable energy. That range is more than 50 per cent farther than Toyota’s other hydrogen-powered car, the Mirai.
Fuel cell technology has its advantages over electric cars as the range is usually greater and they can be refilled as fast as a petrol car, unlike an EV which can take hours to charge. As hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it is a great alternative to fossil fuels.
The high cost of the technology remains a problem, along with the lack of refuelling stations, but many companies are working together now to overcome these. Hopefully there will be more fuel cell vehicles on our roads in the not-so-distant future.
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