Ten concept cars from the Tokyo Motor Show
October 28, 2015 10:48 PM Subscribe
Weird, or future, or both! There's the "car-like thing," the "three-seater with a swiveling cabin," the boat that's not a boat, the one with eight wheels, an "extreme super pickup truck" with scissor doors, a sidestep into the Toyato RV-2, and the one with the cute little head on the dash.
Autocar has pictures, plus comments and links from the Tokyo Motor Show 2015.
Autocar has pictures, plus comments and links from the Tokyo Motor Show 2015.
I vote for #2, the one that looks like Kang or Kodos.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:35 PM on October 28, 2015
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:35 PM on October 28, 2015
I love the pun in the name of the food truck (the last photo in the gallery). "Tempo", which in Japanese is phonemically identical to "Tenpo", which means "Store".
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 AM on October 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 AM on October 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
If the Eliica wasn't sponsored by a tyre manufacturer, they seriously dropped the ball on that one.
Where I live two sets of tyres are mandatory, one for winter and one for summer driving. Last year I splurged on a good impact wrench which made the twice-yearly chore of changing over more enjoyable. But even so I think owning the Eliica would get old fast.
posted by Harald74 at 12:41 AM on October 29, 2015
Where I live two sets of tyres are mandatory, one for winter and one for summer driving. Last year I splurged on a good impact wrench which made the twice-yearly chore of changing over more enjoyable. But even so I think owning the Eliica would get old fast.
posted by Harald74 at 12:41 AM on October 29, 2015
BTW, the 8-wheeler made me think of the Tyrrell P34, a six-wheeled Formula One car that raced in the 70s (before they changed the rules yet again to prevent out-of-the-box thinking...)
posted by Harald74 at 12:43 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 12:43 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Nissan's IDS could be the most important concept here if the rumors that it's the tech demonstrator for the next (200 mile, less ugly) Leaf are true. The 60kwh pack in the same package as the current Leaf's 24kwh is a neat trick, though improving thermal management on it would be a better one.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 2:37 AM on October 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 2:37 AM on October 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Each of the eight wheels had its own electric motor!
What a presentation to the board that must have been.
Perhaps they got the idea from The Grateful Dead, who apparently on one tour were all able to adjust their volume on stage independently.
posted by colie at 2:55 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
What a presentation to the board that must have been.
Perhaps they got the idea from The Grateful Dead, who apparently on one tour were all able to adjust their volume on stage independently.
posted by colie at 2:55 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm waiting for the flood of designs for driverless cars from people like this. No more forward-facing driver's seat, though there might be a forward-facing observation seat. Everyone sitting in a circle facing one another? Everyone watching a screen? One big bed with padded walls and a window on the ceiling? A shit/shower/shave wake-up-and-go commuter car? Sightseeing cars that are all chairs and windows? Taxis that can be hosed out or that even have removable/swappable interiors? Kidmobiles for the school run? Rolling offices? Rolling gyms? Rolling wood-panelled libraries? Rolling kitchens?
posted by pracowity at 3:06 AM on October 29, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 3:06 AM on October 29, 2015 [10 favorites]
What's wrong with independently powered wheels? Diesel-electric locomotives have been designed that way for quite a long time now.
For one thing, it would beat all hell out of drive differentials, their complexity, bulk and power loss. A motor directly coupled to each wheel means being able to regulate each wheel's power independently, which will come in handy every time the car turns to he left or the right.
posted by ardgedee at 4:14 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
For one thing, it would beat all hell out of drive differentials, their complexity, bulk and power loss. A motor directly coupled to each wheel means being able to regulate each wheel's power independently, which will come in handy every time the car turns to he left or the right.
posted by ardgedee at 4:14 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
You would trade some traction management for a large increase in unsprung weight. Even if you mounted them inboard, it would probably be heavier.
posted by indubitable at 4:40 AM on October 29, 2015
posted by indubitable at 4:40 AM on October 29, 2015
“What does this monstrosity cost? Jerry, what's the sticker price? $82,000! This monstrosity costs $82,000? What have I done? I mean, the zoo was fun but I'm ruined!”
posted by Fizz at 4:54 AM on October 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Good gravy I hope Mazda's further along with their new rotary engine than they're leading on.
posted by hwyengr at 5:08 AM on October 29, 2015
posted by hwyengr at 5:08 AM on October 29, 2015
I wish someone would bring tail fins back.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:25 AM on October 29, 2015
posted by middleclasstool at 5:25 AM on October 29, 2015
Never mind all this. Can I have a Dymaxion car yet?
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:54 AM on October 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:54 AM on October 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Each of the eight wheels had its own electric motor!
That idea goes back to the beginning of automobiles. The first car that Porsche designed had individual electric motors for the wheels.
posted by octothorpe at 6:00 AM on October 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
That idea goes back to the beginning of automobiles. The first car that Porsche designed had individual electric motors for the wheels.
posted by octothorpe at 6:00 AM on October 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
You would trade some traction management for a large increase in unsprung weight. Even if you mounted them inboard, it would probably be heavier.
I don't think that's true. The motors are likely mounted to the frame and transmit power to the wheel via a pair of U-joints and a prop shaft. At least on the front, the shafts would probably be in about the same position as in a front-wheel-drive, combustion engined car.
Even then, the problem isn't the concept, just the weight of the motors and lighter motors can be developed.
The amount of precision a car would get with it's power delivery is crazy. The guys who work on the traction control systems on F1 cars would probably start salivating if asked to design a traction control and vehicle dynamic control setup for a car with four electric motors driving four wheels. There are tons of tricks they use with ABS systems, cutting throttle, and trick differentials that can all be done via software with an electric power-train.
posted by VTX at 6:06 AM on October 29, 2015
I don't think that's true. The motors are likely mounted to the frame and transmit power to the wheel via a pair of U-joints and a prop shaft. At least on the front, the shafts would probably be in about the same position as in a front-wheel-drive, combustion engined car.
Even then, the problem isn't the concept, just the weight of the motors and lighter motors can be developed.
The amount of precision a car would get with it's power delivery is crazy. The guys who work on the traction control systems on F1 cars would probably start salivating if asked to design a traction control and vehicle dynamic control setup for a car with four electric motors driving four wheels. There are tons of tricks they use with ABS systems, cutting throttle, and trick differentials that can all be done via software with an electric power-train.
posted by VTX at 6:06 AM on October 29, 2015
Perhaps they got the idea from The Grateful Dead, who apparently on one tour were all able to adjust their volume on stage independently.
The Wall of Sound!
posted by TedW at 6:28 AM on October 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Wall of Sound!
posted by TedW at 6:28 AM on October 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
From The Wall of Sound!
posted by pracowity at 7:48 AM on October 29, 2015
If the meeting had an adviser, it was one Augustus Owsley “Bear” Stanley III, the renowned LSD chemist and audio visionary who’d been financing the Dead and recording the band live since some of their earliest shows.This should be interesting...
posted by pracowity at 7:48 AM on October 29, 2015
The Mercedes F015 looks like a shark, a land shark.
posted by AugustWest at 8:09 AM on October 29, 2015
posted by AugustWest at 8:09 AM on October 29, 2015
To paraphrase Douglas Adams:
- If any of these were going to happen, it would already have happened.
- If anything could cause one of these to happen, that thing would already have happened.
- If anyone tries to make one of these happen absent the thing that would have caused them to happen if it had happened, it is not going to happen.
They really ever intended to make it to production. They're concept cars designed to test a concept. Sometimes it's the public's reaction to a new design language or some new piece of technology. A lot of them are nothing more than a mocked up frame with just enough working mechanical bits to make it look the part and get moved into the venue (and often less than that). It's less often that the concept car is a fully functional vehicle and if it is, it's usually more of a prototype than a concept.
That sometimes happens when a highly anticipated redesign or new car is being developed and the manufacturer wants to gauge the market before putting into production or if they want to generate some buzz and the early production models aren't tight enough to be given to the press. So you trot out the concept version which can be forgiven if it's 90% structural adhesive and bondo.
Those cars are kind of neat because they usually end up looking reasonably close to what ends up going into production. Here are 12 concept cars morphing into their production versions. Note that the re-booted Dodge Charger came out in 2006 but the concept was from the 1999 Detroit Auto show (and I saw it in person at the 1999 Minneapolis Auto Show). It's a bit of a stretch to say that the production version is based on the concept car's styling but I would bet that someone looked at or was otherwise reminded of the Charger concept and that set Chrysler on the path that would result in the production Charger in 2006.
posted by VTX at 10:41 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
That sometimes happens when a highly anticipated redesign or new car is being developed and the manufacturer wants to gauge the market before putting into production or if they want to generate some buzz and the early production models aren't tight enough to be given to the press. So you trot out the concept version which can be forgiven if it's 90% structural adhesive and bondo.
Those cars are kind of neat because they usually end up looking reasonably close to what ends up going into production. Here are 12 concept cars morphing into their production versions. Note that the re-booted Dodge Charger came out in 2006 but the concept was from the 1999 Detroit Auto show (and I saw it in person at the 1999 Minneapolis Auto Show). It's a bit of a stretch to say that the production version is based on the concept car's styling but I would bet that someone looked at or was otherwise reminded of the Charger concept and that set Chrysler on the path that would result in the production Charger in 2006.
posted by VTX at 10:41 AM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Okay that Honda Fuya-Jo could get it. I'm here for doors made entirely of speakers, if only so my favorite neighbor will buy one and bass-cruise this tinytown ZZTop car through my neighborhood.
Also, LOL at this DJ Hero-like interior. So many amazing cars, though! I still miss my old VehiCROSS, that car fucking rocked. Especially after I tricked it out with custom metal mods for the crappy plastic factory parts it came with (the doors, steering wheel and locking bolts over the spare tire cover were especially prone to breaking, and the seat adjustment handles came off if you weren't careful).
A couple mods and that thing drove like a beauty until I traded it in at the end of 2012. So of course I then bought a Juke. Nakamura really understands how to design a functional interior for very small/petite drivers, and I adore his design aesthetic.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 11:15 AM on November 1, 2015
Also, LOL at this DJ Hero-like interior. So many amazing cars, though! I still miss my old VehiCROSS, that car fucking rocked. Especially after I tricked it out with custom metal mods for the crappy plastic factory parts it came with (the doors, steering wheel and locking bolts over the spare tire cover were especially prone to breaking, and the seat adjustment handles came off if you weren't careful).
A couple mods and that thing drove like a beauty until I traded it in at the end of 2012. So of course I then bought a Juke. Nakamura really understands how to design a functional interior for very small/petite drivers, and I adore his design aesthetic.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 11:15 AM on November 1, 2015
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posted by yesster at 11:24 PM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]