The Toyota Prius which is considered the world’s original hybrid vehicle has gone through quite a few innovations in the past 20 years. For the updated 2019 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid model, Toyota has increased its versatility by increasing its overall seating capacity from four to five. (more…)
UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd (Toyota Malaysia) has announce that their very successful TGR Festival will be entering its third season this year and fireworks will go up this coming September. Four rounds consisting of eight Toyota Vios Challenge One-Make races are in schedule as the highlight of the festival. (more…)
It was recently announced by Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) that the popular Toyota Rush SUV has been recalled due to a defect in the airbag’s electric control units (ECU) where units produced from 2 April 2018 up until 7 February 2019 have been affected. (more…)
Providing ‘Mobility for All‘ is something Toyota Motor Corporation takes seriously. It is demonstrating this in its role as worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, specifically the one which will take place in Tokyo in 2020.
Besides various forms of transport that it has developed for different groups at the event, it is developing a special new product known as the Accessible People Mover (APM). This is a mobility vehicle designed expressly for use at the Games.
‘Last mile solution’
The APM will offer a ‘last one mile’ solution that helps transport as many people as possible to events and venues. These include athletes and staff related to the Games as well as all types of visitors with accessibility needs such as the elderly, people with impairments, pregnant women, and families with small children, among others. Part of the fleet of APMs, to number around 200 in total, will be used to support relief activities at events/venues during summer.
There will be two versions – a Basic Model and one with Relief specifications. The Basic Model will be for general transportation and feature 3-row seating. Up to 5 passengers can be carried and when used for passengers in wheelchairs, the configuration can be modified by folding the seats to allow the wheelchair rider in the second row.
Safety, comfort and convenience
With safety in mind, the position of the driver’s seat has been elevated and centrally located in order to allow the driver to see passengers and support their individual needs as they enter/exit the vehicle which is about 2 metres high.
The passenger seats are accessible from both sides of the vehicle, and the overall design considers varying customers’ needs, with safety bars on both sides to help passengers while entering and exiting the vehicle, and fitted with wheelchair anchor plates and ramps to enable the optimal access and transportation of wheelchair passengers.
The Relief specification is similar but has more open space to install a stretcher. In addition, to help convey people in a stable, safe way, a stretcher that can be attached/secured in the vehicle will also be equipped. There will also be space to allow 2 relief staff workers to sit immediately adjacent to the stretcher.
Needless to say, the APM – which has dimensions that are similar to a Toyota Avanza – will operate with zero emissions using a battery electric powertrain that should also be quiet. It can travel at a speed up to 19 km/h and a full charge should provide 100 kms of range.
Sunshine does good and bad things for mankind. It provides light to see better for about half the day and it helps to dry clothes. However, it can cause skin cancer and in certain conditions, even start fires. Sunshine also contains energy which can be converted into electricity and at least one study suggests that solar power can be the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050.
Unfortunately, capturing sunshine to convert it in amounts large enough for practical usage has required technologies that have taken a while to develop. In fact, research began as far back as the 1930s but it is only in the past decade that R&D has accelerated and advanced technologies have been developed which are also commercially viable.
Technological advances needed
While sunshine alone can’t power a car (the technology would need to be very, very advanced), it can be used for the battery packs in electrified vehicles. Currently, the battery packs are recharged by drawing electricity from public or household electrical supply stations or by regeneration in the car’s powertrain. Solar power can supplement this and has the potential of improving cruising range and fuel efficiency of hybrid vehicles.
In fact, Toyota has already been using the approach since 2010 in the Prius to provide power for the climate control system. In 2017, it went further by enlarging the solar panel on the roof to provide electricity for the battery pack. Later this month, NEDO (a national R&D organization in Japan), Sharp Corporation, and Toyota Motor Corporation will carry out public road trials to assess the effectiveness this approach with Sharp’s modularized high-efficiency solar battery cells.
Thin-film solar battery cells
These solar battery cells are in a thin film about 0.03 mm in thickness. This makes it possible to efficiently install the film to fit the curves of parts with limited space. The battery cells will be installed on the roof, bonnet, rear hatch door and other areas of a Toyota Prius.
The idea is, of course, to maximise the area of coverage to capture as much sunshine as possible. By enhancing the solar battery panel’s efficiency and expanding its onboard area, Toyota was able to achieve a rated power generation output of around 860 W, which is approximately 4.8-times higher in comparison with the Prius Prime’s solar charging system.
In addition to substantially boosting its power generation output, the testcar will employ a system that charges the driving battery while the vehicle is parked and also while it’s being driven, a development that is expected to lead to considerable improvements in electric-powered cruising range and fuel efficiency.
Excited about the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019? There will be many surprises waiting to drop our jaws straight to the floor like the new Ford GT supercar. The other highlight that has caught our attention is the public debut of the Toyota GR Supra Drift by HKS. (more…)
Remember the Toyota All About The Drive-Bonanza Contest 2018? The contest which ran last year from October to November finally concluded with four lucky individuals announced as the grand prize winners of a brand-new Toyota Sienta MPV this week. (more…)
UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) has extended their already extensive network of showrooms and dealers here in Malaysia with the launch of a new Toyota 2S outlet in the Klang Valley. Located at Taman Petaling Utama, this service and spare parts facility is operated by Laser Motor Sdn Bhd where they will be able to cater to the masses living in the nearby Petaling Jaya, Puchong, and Kinrara areas. (more…)
Brace yourselves, the long holiday is coming. And with long holidays comes long journeys and to ensure that your journeys are as safe as possible, UMW Toyota and Shell Malaysia have teamed up to launch the ‘Balik Kampung Safety Campaign’ by helping out with their vehicles.
How will this ‘help’ be provided? Well, how about a free 36-point vehicle inspection for ALL car brands? That’s right, the very first safety campaign launched by Toyota and Shell are offering 36-point free inspections to vehicles of all makes at 20 selected Shell stations nationwide which will be done by trained personnel from Toyota, from now until 2 June 2019. (more…)
Attention, all of you Toyota Supra fans out there because this one is for you. Gazoo Racing Company President Shigeki Tomoyama has officially announced that the A70 and A80 Toyota Supra parts (third and fourth generation) will go back into production. This announcement was made very recently during the ‘Supra is Back to Japan Fes’. (more…)
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