Building the cars of the future is a hot topic right now with technology advancing at a rapid rate.
It’s not just for our convenience either we have to find ways of saving energy and making our whole driving culture more efficient and better for the planet.
One of the most innovative projects is the Ha:mo project in Grenoble, France being developed by Toyota using their i-Road cars. It might not seem as flashy as flying cars or driverless ones but it is very user friendly and is already in place and being used on a daily basis now.
It’s a very neat idea. You hire an electric i-Road, drive where you want to in the city centre and then return it to the closest docking station so it’s ready for the next user of the service. The i-Roads themselves are very eco-friendly and are very compact being able to squeeze into spaces as little as a quarter that of a normal parking space. The three wheeled car handles in a unique way too and manoeuvres quickly and intelligently around our busy city streets. It has unique ski-like mechanism that enables it to swerve and glide around any bump or obstacle.
The way you get to use the service is clever too using the associated app and management system Ha:mo. This system helps to control the car sharing scheme for the user and integrate it into the rest of your journey. That means that your inner city car, the i-Road is read for you when you need it at the right time and in the right place. You can use the app via your smartphone and let it inform you which car you’re using and make sure it is ready for you. It will then guide you along the quickest and best route for you to reach your destination unstressed and in good time.
The system is currently on trial in Japan and Grenoble, France and the US looks set to be trying out the travel system next. This could then be extend to other cities as the concept is rolled out to a town centre near you.
For more information please visit the Toyota i-Road website.
This post is bought to you in collaboration with Toyota
