Toyota concept vehicles, 2000–09
ES3
The Toyota ES3 (Eco Spirit cubed) was a concept car made by Toyota in 2001. It was designed to use parts made from bioplastics. The ES3 was not made into a production vehicle but the technology was used in the Raum in 2003 under the name of Toyota Eco-Plastic.
Pod
The Toyota Pod was a concept car created by Toyota in collaboration with Sony. The Pod was first shown at the October 2001 Tokyo Motor Show. The Pod was unique as it was designed with artificial intelligence systems built in to make the car appear more personal.
The Pod was much like a living being due to the artificial intelligence programmed into it. The featured a screen inside with Sony-created software running on it, capable of creating shopping lists and running music and radio. The car could also judge the attitude and mood of the driver based on their reactions and how they are driving, and could offer advice on how to improve their current mood. The seats inside are like stools which could freely spin and rotate. On the exterior, the Pod could express its own feelings with coloured LEDs - red for anger, yellow for happy, blue for sad - and an antenna that wags, much like a dog's tail. The Pod was designed as a "car of the future" and hence was never put into production.
Toyota concept vehicles, 1990–99
Avalon
Unveiled in 1991, the Avalon was a concept vehicle designed by Calty. It was a 4-door convertible with styling inspired by the 1960s. It does not appear to have any direct relation to the Avalon production vehicle of the same name.
AXV-III
The AXV-III was a concept vehicle first shown at the October 1991 Tokyo Motor Show and later shown at the February 1993 Chicago Auto Show. Based on the new Carina, it demonstrated automated driver aids such as vehicle-to-vehicle distance maintenance and a voice synthesiser that gave instructions for upcoming intersections.
The AXV-III cruise control maintained vehicle-to-vehicle distance. Distances over 33 feet were measured by a pulsed laser beam. Distances under 33 feet were measured by a CCD camera using techniques similar to a camera's auto-focus. The usual accelerator linkage was replaced by an electronic version so that the computer could slow the car down automatically by removing power and activating the brakes when the car in front came too close.
Toyota FCHV
The Toyota FCHV is a current hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development programme, which was leased to a limited number of drivers in the USA and Japan beginning in 2002.
"FCHV" stands for "Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle". A number of prototypes have been produced, up to the latest FCHV-adv ("advanced"). The FCHV designs are based on the first generation Highlander SUV, although a bus version is also in development. The powertrain consists of a 90 kW fuel cell supplied from onboard compressed hydrogen tanks, and a nickel-metal hydride accumulator battery in parallel. Battery and fuel cell can provide power to the 90 kW driving motors either singly or together. The mechanism is very similar to the Hybrid Synergy Drive in the Toyota Prius and Toyota Auris HSD but with the fuel cell replacing the petrol internal combustion engine, thus minimising greenhouse gas emissions at point of use.
At low speeds the FCHV can run on battery alone, with a range of about 50 km (31 mi). For high performance, such as when accelerating from rest, the fuel cell and battery supply power in tandem. The battery can also charge by regenerative braking, improving overall efficiency. There are currently five generations of the FCHV, beginning with preliminary prototypes FCHV-1 (1997) and FCHV-2 (1999). The FCHV-3 was presented at the "International Symposium on Fuel-Cell Vehicles" in March 2001 in Tokyo, and the FCHV-4 was the first production version, although Toyota does not plan a full-scale commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicle launch until around 2015.
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