The Toyota I Unit is a concept vehicle that was part of Toyota’s Expo 2005 display. Designed as a personal transport unit that has less of an impact on the environment than traditional cars, it meets the theme of Expo 2005 successfully.
According to Toyota the I Unit’s design is inspired by a “leaf that converts sunlight into life energy”. The I Units in wheel motors is powered by rechargeable lithium ion batteries and The body is built using environmentally friendly plant-based materials such as kenaf.
In its normal low speed mode the passenger sits almost upright and the I Unit takes up very little space allowing the user to move around a busy pedestrian area with ease. Once the I Unit reaches a higher speed the I Unit reclines giving the unit a longer wheelbase with better stability to manoeuvre about in traffic, the passenger gets moved from a almost standing position to a sitting position and a small windscreen drops down in front of the drivers face.
The I Unit is controlled by a type of joystick interface that uses Drive-by-wire technology, its intuitive handling enable the passenger to manoeuvre on-the-spot turns and drive at high speed at will.
The driver support system features Intelligent Transport System (ITS) technology, which Toyota hopes to utilize for an accident-free society. The system permits efficient and safe autopilot driving in specially equipped lanes. This same technology was demonstrated at Expo with Toyota’s IMTS bus and at Tokyo’s Toyota Megaweb as part of their E Com Ride.
