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The Future of Cars According to Toyota
Posted by
michael
on Tue May 25, 2004 12:56 PM
from the parallel-parking-made-easy dept.
from the parallel-parking-made-easy dept.
Paulrothrock writes "HowStuffWorks has an interesting story about Toyota's concept, um, car, the PM. In addition to seating only one person and having its hubless wheels driven by electric motors, it incorporates wireless networking so that drivers could surrender control to another human-driven PM and relax as someone else drives them to work. And it reclines!"
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Imagine the road of the future... (Score:5, Funny)
(man driving a vintage Excursion hits bump in road) "Damn, what was that!"
(kid in the back seat) "Dad, I think that you just ran over the last two PMs in that row of 10 that just passed us.
It looks neat, but I get the impression that it's a coffin with a glass top held up at an angle.
What's the color ofRe:Imagine the road of the future... (Score:5, Funny)
The car at IP address 10.10.10.432 requested that you take control, by accepting his ECLA (End Controller License Agreement), you agreed to be responsible... so when you cut off that semi, he was smashed into a pancake inside his egg car. The family is suing you for (pinky extended) one billion dollars!
It's also a great way to fulfill those pesky mafia contracts!
Parent
Re:Imagine the road of the future... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Imagine the road of the future... (Score:5, Funny)
I don't think that asking about a ever having a mood ring is the right question...
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Backseat drivers! (Score:3, Funny)
Sheesh.
Overheard on #I-95 (Score:5, Funny)
70y074d00d: ya it sux0rz
1337dR1V3r: too long
1337dR1V3r: i got a big ppt prez to give to 54L3z in 30 min
70y074d00d: haha 54L3z l4m3rz sux
70y074d00d: 4cc0un71nG rulez
1337dR1V3r: omfg lag
70y074d00d: i no
70y074d00d: im slow too
70y074d00d: net sux 2day
70y074d00d: dr1v3r
70y074d00d: j00 there
70y074d00d: hello
*** 1337dR1V3r has left channel
70y074d00d: oh fuX0r
*** 70y074d00d has left channel
Re:Overheard on #I-95 (Score:5, Funny)
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Joke (Score:5, Funny)
A nightmare (Score:4, Funny)
Re:A nightmare (Score:5, Funny)
Screw those little RC toys. Snag control of cars as they drive past and have races around the block!
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Re:A nightmare (Score:5, Funny)
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Already have those? (Score:5, Funny)
Two Words (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Two Words (Score:5, Informative)
Steve Urkel drove one of these beauties:
http://www.cqql.net/bmw.htm
Parent
It could improve resource usage (Score:5, Interesting)
The fundamental problem with the car-centric society of my homeland is: Nearly pessimum resource utilization at every step of the way.
First, I assume for the moment that we are not going to undo fifty years of urban planning overnight, and that private cars (or car-like transporters) are going to be a sine qua non for the time being.
Every day, a commuter needs to get himself and his briefcase from domicile to place-of-employ. Once a week, the entire family unit wants to travel together to Funfunparkland. Once a month you need to carry a SUV-full of groceries home from the Megalomart.
Having one least-common-denominator vehicle for all of these purposes (e.g. the Suburban Assault Vehicle), is a poor use of resources - to use some tortured computer analogy, it is as if you burn a DVD-R with three words on it, every time you want to use a post-it.
I think something like the Toyota PM would be more readily accepted by commuters if there were in place a more economically feasible way to acquire a larger vehicle for ad-hoc short-term missions. Something like, but not exactly like, the current rental market.
When I lived in Mountain View, CA - there was "Rent A Heap, Cheap" that had - well - cheap heaps of car ... They would rent you a mid-80s
station wagon for something like 25 bucks a day, unlimited mileage (or
nearly unlimited) including tax and insurance. Commuting via
motorcycle, I was easily able to save enough in operating-cost,
fixed cost, and depreciation to rent the wagon for those
once-in-a-while times when having something bigger than a motorcycle
was needed.
The saddest part with Toyota's gadget: It appears too much a toy, and they will have terrible image problems. The /. collective-consciousnless will call it 'gay'. (Not to mention the
risks involved with someone 0wn3ring your car and driving you off a
cliff!)
Re:It could improve resource usage (Score:3, Insightful)
It would be fine if every single person on the road had a bike or one of these things, but with 99% of vehicles on the road today being 3000+ lb monsters, I don't want to be anywhere near them.
Re:It could improve resource usage (Score:4, Interesting)
Automotive sexual orientation aside, I'd really like to know how they plan on preventing someone from making your car do something you don't want it to. I'm sure a manual override is a part of the plan, but if a passenger in my car were to serve my wheel on I-80, I imagine it would be a fairly terminal action, one which I couldn't recover from.
Without additional ifrastructure (collision detection, road orientation and speed monitoring, etc), I don't see how this will work. It's a neat problem.
The post it note analogy was pretty spot on explanation of a problem most people never think about (assuming I'm most people).
Parent
....Right.... (Score:3, Insightful)
And what about people with kids? Are they gonna come out with a "follower" model? And how exactly is one gonna haul groceries home?
This will be great for those guys who only go to the office, then home to surf the net till it's time to go to work again. But people with lives and friends are gonna keep driving multi-passenger vehicles. Especially in rural areas, where we don't have great things like cabs and subways.
Re:....Right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:....Right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, if you are a one parent family, this obviously doesn't hold, and this car isn't for you. For me, it'd be great.
Exactly. What is with all these people complaining about this car because it doesn't fit their particular situation? This vehicle wasn't meant to satisfy everyone or be usuable in every conceivable situation. It's only meant for one person to get around in. If you have different needs, then get a different vehicle, and stop complaining.
Personally, I think something like this would be useful as a second vehicle just for going to work in. Since it's so small and simple, it might be inexpensive as well, both for initial cost and for maintenance. If it costs the same as a normal car, however, then forget it.
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Re:....Right.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, I've just got back from the supermarket on a bicycle with groceries. Of course, shopping more frequently than once per month helps (means you get fresh food too), and living 100 yds away from the supermarket (and 5 miles from work) is probably something worth considering when you get your next job and/or house.
Or you could just get a big car. Fuck it, who needs to live in the same city as your office anyway?
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Re:....Right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Replace THAT car with something else.
Bike, bus, carpool, this Toyota thingie. Why a family needs/wants TWO Canyonero's is beyond me.
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It's an "and" car. (Score:5, Insightful)
Rather than a big car and a small car I have a car and a motorcycle. Use the bike to commute, swish through traffic and use the car for carrying stuff and longer ranges.
A Solectria Sunrise would be a much better vehicle to be aiming at:
http://www.evuk.co.uk/hotwires/rawstuff/art24.h
Yeah... 1997... It can actually do 375 miles on a single charge.
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Re:....Right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a concept car!
The only reason anybody created this thing is to attract the media magpies who go "ohh, shiny, ohh, innovative, ohh nifty". They grab the press packet, plagarize, rewriwe, and publish the press release (along with the included press photo) with "look at what Toyota is doing thinking outside of the box!"
Then after the season the concept is put to the scrap heap while they go back to making 2-door compacts and sedans.
This happens over and over again. Someone posts a link to an article about a concept car, and then everyone here takes it too seriously, "ohh, that would never work, because..."
It's a concept car! It is only eye candy to create buzz and you just bought it, hook line and sinker.
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Re:....Right.... (Score:5, Funny)
a mom driving her kids around, each with their own bubble on wheels, with a caboose for cargo.
it's like a cross between a line of ducks behind their mom and a train.
i'm sold
Parent
We could call it... (Score:5, Funny)
> drivers could surrender control to another
> human-driven PM and relax as someone else drives
> them to work. And it reclines!
All that remains is to hook these units together and run them on fixed guideways. Let's see - need a new word for that - how about..... "Train". Yeah, that sounds funky and new!
sPh
Re:We could call it... (Score:5, Funny)
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Neat... (Score:5, Funny)
Never thought i'd see the day...
At least cabbies can stop showeri.... wait a minute..
Uh... (Score:4, Funny)
So how do I get my two toddlers to the grocery store?
What breakfast food does this most resemble: Hummer IV meets PM?
What about poor wireless reception or active radio jamming?
To start it, do you pull it back in your driveway until the spring catches?
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Insightful)
Obviously this car is not to bring your two kids anywhere.
From the Georgia DOT [state.ga.us]:
Metro Atlanta commuters collectively travel an estimated 112 million miles daily, with (AFAIR) a 50 mile round trip average. That's a guestimated 2.4 million commuters. 88% alone in their cars... that's over 2.1 million solo commuters.
That's hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily on each of the major interstates.
Imagine you replace 2 of the four to 7 lanes (depending on which of the interstates and at which part) with lanes for this vehicle... each current lane would be wide enough to handle more than one of these vehicles in width, so you could replace, for example, 2 lanes with three for this kind of vehicle.
Sound ridiculous? People use motorcycles, some places have motorcycle lanes. We have HOV lanes. Why would something like this be so far fetched?
And while I realize it might be funny to talk about being hacked or having bad reception, just because a car could be remotely controled doesn't mean is has to be.
By separating these vehicles from the rest of traffic, you are minimizing the danger.
And you would still have your precious SUV, big enough to carry eight passengers while towing a house, so that you could take your two toddlers to the supermarket.
Parent
Fark (Score:3, Funny)
Concept cars are like college programming projects (Score:5, Insightful)
- The drivers legs are used as the front bumper
- Virtually no cargo room
- Can't bring the kids along, since they won't be allowed to even sit in your PM until they get a drivers license
- I'm not about to let some other jerk drive for me. What if he cuts someone off and doesn't leave enough room for me?
- It's top heavy (although it can recline, alleviating this problem somewhat)
This is just another concept car that will never see the light of day, at least not in it's current form.Re:Concept cars are like college programming proje (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe people will start driving a bit more carefully if this is the case. ABS, seatbelts, airbags - I bet the one thing that'd improve road safety more than any of those is a 6-inch spike sticking out the steering wheel towards the driver!
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What's worse than drivers with cellphones? (Score:3, Funny)
great... (Score:3, Funny)
So, if I crash someone's car driving it remotely, am I liable? Does my insurance go up? Will hackers be the wireless car thieves of the future?
And when people mistake you for a giant Aibo? (Score:3, Funny)
Have you PM mount their car and give the chassis a little dry-hump?
Neat toy (Score:4, Interesting)
That said, the autopilot mode I like. Though it would be better if it could drive autonomously, rather than surrendering control to someone else (who's as likely to fall asleep at the wheel as I am). Course, the networking would have to be designed so that it was proof against some random attack. Giving up control of my car to someone else is one thing, having him TAKE control against my will is "right out".
And it changes colours to indicate what is going on inside! I wonder what colour it turns if you're making out?
Jebus H. Christmas!! (Score:5, Funny)
And what else seats only one person, reclines, and is driven by someone else? Why, you guessed it... it's the new joint venture between Toyota and Apple... the iStroller [howstuffworks.com].
Maybe BMW can go back to three-cars, too (Score:4, Informative)
The Lohner-Porsche Electric Car (Score:5, Interesting)
PM is an acronym (Score:5, Funny)
A great idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Some key benefits to the idea of letting one person drive a gaggle of cars are
- You can design the cars to densely tailgate each other to take advantage of slipstreaming. That buys you significant gains in gas mileage since most of a car's power at highway speeds is spent just moving air out of the way.
- Cars can move at much higher speeds since human reaction times are removed from the chain. Right now, if you're in a line 100 cars long, it takes at least 50 seconds from the time the first car in line moves before the 100th car gets moving. With this technology, when the first car moves, all the cars move. When the first car stops, all the cars stop.
- It allows for self-assembling trains. Fixed rail is well, fixed. Cars go wherever anyone wants to go when they want to go. By allowing one person to drive, and everyone else to follow, you'll have long strings of cars (just like you have train cars) that can peel off when they wish and can join when they wish. You get most of the efficiency of trains without having to coerce people into living in certain areas or travel to certain destinations.
This incarnation of Toyota's may not make it to market but, with tort reform, some variation of this tech is going to happen. The advantages are just too great for it not to happen.BMW C1 enclosed scooter much better solution (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, an enclosed scooter like the BMW C1 [bmw-c1.com] makes much more sense than the four-wheeled PM because you can operate it in a narrow vehicle lane and park in a motorcycle space. With anti-lock brakes, roll cage, and harness, and a superfluous helmet required in some jurisdictions, its no rolling coffin. And you can buy it now.
Re:seats only one person (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:seats only one person (Score:4, Insightful)
In 1904, cars weren't practical, horses were the norm, and very few people had ever seen the aircraft that had flown less than a year ago. Steamships were the fast way to cross the ocean. I'd be careful about what you predict for this century. For life in 2100, a mix between a motorcycle and car seems pretty mundane.
--
Evan
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Lots of fun to drive, baby! (Score:4, Informative)
Drive by wire + separately-powered wheels = computer-controlled stability-control on acceleration, braking, turning, etc.
Maximum control under all conditions, incredible ridiculous electric acceleration, and handling that's as impressive as hell.
The only advantage gasoline engines have is a fuel with much higher energy density (range) than batteries provide-- if you want pure performance, electric will own internal combustion every time.
Parent
Re:Would you trust? (Score:4, Insightful)
To them it's like game over on a console.
That's EXACTLY what came to mind when I read that. Imagine - you're steering this car through a little 3d raceway. The ability for abuse is mind boggling, but, what's worse, is it sort of removes the element of threat and leaves the "driver" in a more detached position. When you drive your own vehicle, your skin is on the line. When someone else drives your vehicle, they don't have that issue.
I could see some idiot putting the car on cruise control remotely (either through poor design or as a hack to the vehicle/controller) and getting up to go get a pepsi or a beer or something.... just not a good situation.
Parent
Re:Motorcycles (Score:4, Interesting)
- Limited carrying capacity
- In town, anything I can do on a motorcycle, I can do on a bicycle, cheaper, and usually just as fast.
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Fastest vehicles across London. (Score:4, Interesting)
All the clothing is completely waterproof these days, thank you Gore.
Backpacks, tank bags, tail packs, panniers, top boxes. You might be surprised just how much crap you can lug around on a motorbike.
They occasionally run a "Commuter Race", a man vs car vs tube vs bicycle vs motorcyle race between 2 points in London. The motorcycle wins every time and it's not just marginally quicker, it's 50% -> 100+% faster than all of the rest.
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Re: Wretched Sububia? (Score:5, Insightful)
The main problem with the place, however, is that the cost of living is astronomical. Every time some anti-sprawl person talks about how we need to live in a high-density city with public transit, I immediately think of Manhattan and Boston, and remember how there's no way I could afford to live in one of those places. There's a reason sprawl occurs: land is much cheaper in the suburbs, and people can afford to own their homes instead of just being renters.
The living space in high-density cities is also a problem. Unless you're a millionnaire, there's no way you could afford 2000+ s.f. of living space in a dense city. But in the suburbs anyone can afford a decent-sized house. Personally, I like having a garage with power tools, an extra room for my computer and electronics projects, and a back yard with a couple of trees. Dense urban living is only realistic for people who are single and don't spend much time at home.
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