Toyota i-REAL Concept to Debut in Tokyo

Toyota i-REAL Concept

By Brian Potter
October 10, 2007 2:32 PM
Filed Under: Concept Car, Japanese, Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota

What out Segway lovers. There's a new kid in town and he's sitting down. Toyota's venture into personal mobility started with the PM concept in 2003, gained an extra wheel in 2004 with the i-unit and then got more refined with a trimmed down i-swing in 2005.

This latest i-REAL concept version is again a three-wheeler but now with two up front and one in the rear. For low speeds the wheebase shortens for greater manueverability but then extends in high speed mode to lower the center of gravity and improve performance.

For safety the i-REAL uses perimeter monitoring sensors to prevent collisions with persons or objects by sounding an alarm and vibrating.

Source: Toyota

Press Release (Click to expand)

i-REAL

The i-REAL is a personal mobility vehicle made closely in human scale as a step toward commercialization in the near future.

Represents the next stage of Toyota's personal mobility vehicle development, following the PM, i-unit and i-swing.
Uses three wheels (two at the front and one at the back), in low-speed mode, shortening its wheelbase to allow it to maneuver naturally among pedestrians at similar eyesight height without taking up a large amount of space; in high-speed mode the wheelbase lengthens to provide a lower center of gravity and better driving performance.
Ensures safe handling—both to the driver and those around the vehicle—by employing perimeter monitoring sensors to detect when a collision with a person or object is imminent and alerts the driver by emitting a noise and vibrating; at the same time, alerts people around it of its movements through the pleasant use of light and sound.