Toyota ME.WE Concept: It’s an egalitarian EV

The Toyota ME.WE Concept is a utilitarian, compact electric car from Toyota with interchangeable body panels created with Jean-Marie Massaud.

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Jean-Marie Massaud is a French designer and architect who’s creations tend to be on the minimalist side. So if he’s playing at concept cars with Toyota, you’d expect the result to be a bit short on luxuries and equipment. And you’d be right; the Toyota ME.WE is, as Toyota say, ‘Anti-Excess’. And then some.

Based on the electric running gear of the Toyota i-Road we saw at Geneva (but with a full set of wheels) Toyota and Massaud have created an urban vehicle that takes transport back to the basics; a 2CV for the 21st century, perhaps, or a grown up home-made kart seems to be where the ME.WE is at.

The construction of the ME.WE comprises a tubular aluminium chassis and a pile of interchangeable polypropylene panels that can change the function of the ME.We from city car to convertible to pickup to 4×4 (thanks to electric motors on both axles) and is, by any definition, transport and not a car you’d have to make a statement.

Inside is just as basic with a single dial for the instruments, flat surfaces made from bamboo (designers love a bit of bamboo), batteries for the electric motors under the floor and you have to store any luggage on the roof under a weatherproof cover.

The Toyota Me.WE is really just Toyota playing (and we think they should have gone the whole hog and called it the ME.WE.EV) but it does have possibilities. If it’s really cheap to produce and came out at £5k, there would be a ready market.

Otherwise, it’s just another pointless (EV) Concept.