Toyota FT-EV II - it's the Jetsons!

The Toyota FT-EV II Electric city car concept

Toyota are bringing a low-powered, short range, ultra-compact electric city car concept to the Tokyo Motor Show – the Toyota FT-EV II.

Not quite – the Toyota FT-EV doesn’t fly – but it does look a bit like a retro-futuristic car. Something designed in the fifties to portray life in the 21st century. And in a way, that’s exactly what Toyota are intimating. Not the fifties view, you understand, but a society where we use cars like the FT-EV for short city trips

As we reported earlier, Toyota believe electric cars have no future, apart from as short-range, low power city runarounds or as commercial vehicles. So the Toyota FT-EV II is exactly what Toyota believes the EV future is – a small, slow city car. Toyota say of the FT-EV – “… (its) design and technology look to a future society where EVs will be in common use, among a range of different means of transport that will reflect user requirements, the type of energy used and the local energy supply infrastructure”.

So although on the face of it it looks like Toyota are undermining their stated view of EVs, they are in fact underlining it. The FT-EV is even smaller than the iQ, but still with four seats. It uses drive-by-wire to control the car from a joystick – a ‘Playstation Generation’ car.To emphasise its urban credentials the FT-EV has sliding electric doors so passengers can get out even in the tightest of spaces.

Toyota are planning on showing the FT-EV II Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month.