2007 Tokyo Auto Show: Toyota's Green Machines

Hometown superstar Toyota Motor Corp. stuck Chief Executive Katsuaki Watanabe in its i-Real personal mobility pod concept -- a three-wheeler that looks like the love child of a Segway and a Jetsons-inspired wheelchair -- and had him roll around the stage for a few minutes before launching into his presentation at the company's Tokyo auto show press conference (that's not him in the picture).

Toyota, he said, is all about sustainability -- a catchword that either means "we've got to do something to make sure the planet endures," or "whatever we do has to be able to pay for itself."

Anyhow, the company is going to be focusing in the future on environmental, safety and energy issues. And while the electric i-Real is an idea whose time might not have come yet, the concept -- step in, sit down and go, without taking up much space or spewing out many pollutants -- is intriguing... Although it had two short-shorts-clad models in it for the press preview, Toyota's IQ concept, originally shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year, is a city car that's supposed to hold three adults and a small child, or a couple bags of groceries.

It's part of the company's exploration of transportation that doesn't contribute much to air pollution or climate change, and Watanabe hinted that something based on the concept may be heading for the Japanese market in the next few years.

Toyota also showed its 1/X hybrid concept -- a see-through, carbon-fiber-framed runabout with the interior space of a Prius in a package that weighs in at just 420 kilograms (about 925 pounds in the U.S.).

When Watanabe ended his 5-minute spiel, a quintet of models in shiny white shorts took over the stage to pose with the cars.

Don't know what they had to do with the environment, or safety, but they did have a lot of energy. -- John O'Dell, Senior Editor, Green Car Advisor

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• Posted by: Ed Hellwig October 24, 2007, 8:10 PM
• Categories: Green Tech, Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota