The Future of Cars According to Toyota 467
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!"
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!
Re:Imagine the road of the future... (Score:3, Funny)
What about yellow lights? (Score:3, Insightful)
MIRROR (Score:3)
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...
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)
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!
Re:A nightmare (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A nightmare (Score:3, Interesting)
Already have those? (Score:5, Funny)
Would you trust? (Score:2)
If an accident were to happen; You wouldn't have been in any kind of control.
This wouldn't be a bad thing for all those drunks who try to drive home though.
That kind of technology has some major pros and cons.
Re:Would you trust? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Would you trust? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Would you trust? (Score:3, Insightful)
With someone else not in the car they don't have the consequences if there is an accident. To them it's like game over on a console.
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.
Re:Would you trust? (Score:3, Insightful)
Two Words (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Two Words (Score:2)
Re:Two Words (Score:3, Funny)
Steve r set us up the bomb
Steve is oldskool...he inspired us throughout the 80's to feel comfortable in our suspenders...because with a little bit of juice we could become Stefan....
Ladies man by night, g33k by day, a king among men.
Re:Two Words (Score:5, Informative)
Steve Urkel drove one of these beauties:
http://www.cqql.net/bmw.htm
"Who trained the specs on me?!?!?" (Score:2, Insightful)
This takes the concept in everquest of mob/newb training to a whole 'nother level....
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).
Re:It could improve resource usage (Score:3, Informative)
Right now, they're not offering large vehicles to owners of small vehicles. They're offering small vehicles to people who primarily use public transportation -- or to single-car families who occasionally need a second vehicle. But if they succeed, it makes sense that they would branch out into a wider
Re:It could improve resource usage (Score:3, Insightful)
While that sounds find in theory, the reality is different. Your assuming a few things that don't always hold true.
First, the person has the $$$ to have more than one vehicle, so he is able to choose which one he uses based on the activity abo
Re:It could improve resource usage (Score:3, Interesting)
Station wagons are classed as cars, and thus fall under car CAFE requirements. As of the mid-Eighties, they were going extinct, because auto companies couldn't afford to sell them; the fines for violating CAFE standards exceeded the profit one could make by selling station wagons. Oh, you could still get them, but they were more
....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)
Re:....Right.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Who said anything about a boatload?
I have a 3 month old daughter. How, exactly, am I supposed to get her anywhere if I had a single-seater car? An infant seat is required by law in most (all?) states and European countries, and a child seat once they grow out of that. Some states (I don't know about EU countries) are now requiring booster seats up to the age of 8 (or XX lb
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.
Re:....Right.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:....Right.... (Score:3, Interesting)
I think the whole point is that everybody could have such a vehicle (it will have to be cheap enough). So for kids you will put the vehicle in slave mode only and it will follow the car of one of the parents until they have their driving license.
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
Re:....Right.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Imagine this scenario: Rent the PM from an agency, maybe one that your employer has a contract with. Every morning at a specified time (or not, if you want to be flexible) a PM arrives at your door. You hop in and relax as you're driven to work. If you need to travel somewhere during lunch then you can last-minute-rent a PM to get there.
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?
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.
WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe not a 1 seater, but a 2 seater would be my optimum car. I'm sure there are others who would be fine driving around in a one seater most of the time.
Here we see an example of the idea that you can't automatically assume a product will fail
Re:....Right.... (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
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.
So... (Score:2, Funny)
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)
Neat... (Score:5, Funny)
Never thought i'd see the day...
At least cabbies can stop showeri.... wait a minute..
Re:Neat... (Score:2)
Wait a minute...
The cab drivers can work from "homeland"
Re:Neat... (Score:2)
Pow-pow-power wheels... (Score:2)
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.
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:3, Insightful)
Driving is dangerous. You're only safer in a SUV if you hit a little car. Hit something stationary or another SUV and the energies involved are much higher. Nevermind stopping distance and handling. We'd all be safer if drivers were a little more aware of their mortality.
Virtually no cargo room
A large percentage of the time, I have virtually no cargo. Like everyone else.
Can't bring the kids along, since they won't be allowed to even sit in your PM until
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!
Free advertizing (Score:2, Insightful)
What's worse than drivers with cellphones? (Score:3, Funny)
Looks like a high-tech pram (Score:2)
Better yet, in New York City where those people who walk 10 to 15 dogs at a time could use the remote control to walk 10 to 15 kids at a time.
I have seen the future (Score:2)
All I want is sexbots and a virtual replacement for my shitty life. Is this too much to ask?
Sites with small multiple pages (Score:2)
But I have nothing to complain about...howstuffworks is one of my favorite sites - and it's free.
Safety (Score:2)
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?
Re:Neat toy (Score:3, Funny)
Be careful, you could go blind...
Hooptie
cars are more than personal transportation... (Score:2)
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].
Finally got through to the site... (Score:2)
Maybe BMW can go back to three-cars, too (Score:4, Informative)
Joysticks!?! (Score:2, Insightful)
Imagine a sneeze jerking you into the neighboring car.
Furthermore, how dumb is it to replace gas/brake pedals w/ another joystick!?! Now you NEED 2 hands to drive! How are you going to mess with the radio or eat your Big Mac or call your mom?
a business Successs!! (Score:2, Funny)
LED Technology? (Score:3, Funny)
Good thing it's a single seater!
The Lohner-Porsche Electric Car (Score:5, Interesting)
In the future energy is unlimited, obviously. (Score:3, Insightful)
What is the point of a one person transport? There isn't even room for an appreciable amount of luggage. If this is only to be used for personal commuting with few to none personal items, say to and from the office, then this person should be using the hyper efficient and comforatble mass transit system in place in the future. Oh that's right, there won't be one because companies are still designing products like this for the highest level of society where privilege and money rule and fuck-all to the environment and anyone who can't afford a person transport pod.
I'm not a tree-hugging hippie, but this is redeiculous. How about this for a concept car - one that actually gets more than 50 miles per gallon - that addresses today's problems in the real world where people need to haul stuff and other people around on a budget and where energy is limited.
Re:In the future energy is unlimited, obviously. (Score:3, Insightful)
The same as most cars on the morning commute now. To get one person from home to work. This does it cheaper and smaller.
Think if your company didn't have to buy that bigass parking lot along with the building? hmmm.....less operating overhead, more profits, maybe even a raise for you.
PM is an acronym (Score:5, Funny)
Re:PM is an acronym (Score:3, Informative)
PM is not an acronym. [saila.com]
Not really for the US market (Score:3, Insightful)
US cities like San Francisco and New York (Manhattan) with high population densities and no parking this might work but does have the fruity image problem. This wold make crossing town and finding parking quite a bit easier for a daily commuter.
The 'high speed mode' is a bit baffling to me, i suspect that is just the concept car thing of "We can do it, thought it was cool so threw it in". Practically I doubt it could work in a mixed use expressway safely.
more info from Toyota (Score:3, Informative)
It's just not safe (Score:3, Interesting)
I guess I tend to lean more toward having a larger vehicle these days because I know someone who a year ago would be dead if they were not driving the large pickup truck they were in...when someone hit them head on at 65mph. Luckily they only nearly died, and can barely walk today.
As long as all of the large vehicles are still popular, a tiny thing like that simply would not sell.
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.Re:A great idea (Score:3, Insightful)
Let's say that John Q. Asshole is driving 75 down the interstate, leading a chain of PMs. John decides, abruptly, that he wants to stop for a coffee at a filling station. Without signalling that he no longer wants to lead, he swerves across four lanes of traffic and barely makes it onto an offramp without killing himself. How will the followers react
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.
So does this mean (Score:3, Funny)
Corbin Sparrow? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:seats only one person (Score:2)
*points to google{define:}*
Re:seats only one person (Score:4, Insightful)
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
Re:seats only one person (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re:seats only one person (Score:3, Informative)
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.
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.
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.
Re:More pix here (Score:3, Informative)
You can actually see the controls.
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
It has an output of 13 kw, and runs for 1 hour, so you get 13khw. On my electric bill, 1 kwh costs me $0.1206, so 60 miles costs me $1.56. To make things fair, let's look at gas prices before the recent upswing, say $1.60/gal. Say you have a fairly efficient car, 30mpg. 60 miles at 30mpg = $3.20, more than doub