Toyota's most unusual eco-car concepts come from its "Revolution" Manager
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Hi-CT
There's a reason that outlandish but environmentally-friendly Toyota concept cars like the Hi-CT plug-in hybrid truck (above), the RIN and the 1/X exist: Tetsuya Kaida. HybridCars has a profile of Kaida in a new post where we find out that, if Kaida gets his way, these crazy auto show-only vehicles will one day be upstaged by the seaweed car. Kaida, the manager of Toyota's "Business Revolution Corporate Value Project" gets to play with "car design, global lifestyle trends, Japanese ancient art and culture, fantasy and nature," in HybridCars' words. Aside from the seaweed car (which Kaida likes because Japan is surrounded by the ocean), Kaida talked about a plant-based version of the 1/X during the recent Melbourne International Motor Show. If his dream comes true, it might take the 1/X about 15 years to get to dealerships, he said. The fundamental idea behind all of these concepts, Kaida said, is harmony, and described his designs as "the Way of the Car, much like a tea ceremony or flower arrangement." This is not a guy who dreams small.
Gallery: Tokyo Motor Show: Toyota Hi-CT
[Source: HybridCars]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
HAL 12:39PM (3/01/2009)
Woah...I looks so aerodynamic. I bet this Hi-CT can cut through the air with the greatest of ease. It must have an outstanding Cd of 2.05! This is the greatest box-of-a-car I've ever seen!
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judy 12:36PM (3/01/2009)
enter this in the ugliets car of the millenium..good grief!!
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Portia 12:34PM (3/01/2009)
Fantasy is fine, but since these guys are getting paid, why not design something that people will actually BUY ???
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Rhett 1:58AM (3/02/2009)
Mack, Freightliner, etc. should pay attention...it would make a great semi!
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Posterboy 1:27PM (3/01/2009)
No, this is not the ugliest car of the millenium, because according to the article, its actually a truck. In all fairness, it's not _that_ much uglier than a Scion xB, and people seem to buy them for some unknown reason. All that said, this is about the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen. Name it the Homer II, price it at $82,000 and watch them line up to buy!
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gorr 2:30PM (3/01/2009)
Toyota along other car manufacturers will dissapear sooner that peoples might think because they have not build nor commercialysed the car powered by water. Peoples will dissapear too because they play for a lot of years with gasoline and/or diesel fuel pumps that we see everywhere along roads. As i notice nobody is shopping for a car or truck or airplane or ship or electrical generation powered by water and this is mainly the fault of bloggers here that never ask for a clean or green car. As for ronn motorsport or the tractor from holland, they didn't call me for distribution and marketing and their water offerings are not in showroom.
Nobody ever noticed all the things that are powered by water, vegetation, trees, animals and are rejecting normal energy for painful, underpowered, toxic, mandated, slow burning , hard to compress( detonation) ,scrutinized by goverments, subject to price hack and artificial shortage, gasoline of 87 octanes or 92 octanes or even diesel.
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jharlan 3:23PM (3/01/2009)
Gorr:
Whaaat?
This car gives a new definition for the term "butt ugly", but if it is the most efficient vehicle with that much cargo space, it will likely sell.
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Herm 7:39PM (3/01/2009)
This thing would sell very well, you dont need a very slick car for low speed city driving.. re-imagine the car for 100 mile range and doing city chores. Keep it low cost.
I like it.
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Amit Thakur 2:17AM (3/02/2009)
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Sektor 6:48AM (3/02/2009)
Make it go away, please!
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Eideard 11:33AM (10/15/2009)
Just occurred to me looking at this critter - who will be bright enough to start offering a 2-seater/Smart/IQ/vehicle with a rumble seat?
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