Is it a car, golf cart or scooter?
Toyota i-Tril is a cool concept for city motoring
TOYOTA has unveiled another part car, part scooter, part golf cart designed for congested urban use, but this one’s aimed specifically at moms with two kids. It’s a long-term vision for future urban motoring, and is expected on the market in around 2030.
The new i-Tril concept follows a similar Toyota concept from 2013, called the i-Road, but where that vehicle featured three wheels and seating for two, this one gets four wheels and space for three in a 1+2 layout. Like its forebear, the i-Tril is a fully electric vehicle with a boosted range of 200km between charges, but Toyota hasn’t bothered with any mechanical details such as motor output, battery size or top speeds - probably because these things are largely irrelevant to its target market.
This tiny mobility vehicle was developed with one type of client in mind, and the press material clearly states “sophisticated, single, 30-50 year old active females with two children and a vibrant lifestyles” are who’s targeted. This woman also lives just outside the big city in what Toyota calls a SMESTO (Small to Medium Sized Town), where short hops between work, schools and shops are suited to the i-Tril’s size and range.
At just 2.8m long and 1.2m wide, and tipping scales at only 600kg (about half that of a small car), the i-Tril could nip perpendicularly into streetside parking slots and manoeuvre through traffic with similar nimbleness as a motorcycle. Like the i-Road, the i-Tril uses Toyota’s Active Lean technology where a hinged chassis allows the cabin and front wheels to tilt up to 10 degrees into a corner while the powered back axle remains level with a road’s surface. A tight 4m turning circle is comparable to those of the smallest city cars.
The concept is capable of fully autonomous driving, but Toyota thinks its corner- carving abilities will outweigh selfdrive modes in terms of fun factor. There are no pedals so any style of high-heeled footwear can be worn safely, and instead of a steering wheel the driver uses a pair of control ‘nodes’ like a video game controller.
A pair of butterfly doors incorporate a section of floor on either side, making it easier to get in and out, and the two rear seats are on either side of the central driver’s chair to offer all three passengers a view of the road ahead.