Japanese Group Redesigns Toyota Electric Vehicle

Jun 9, 2009 18:19 Tatsuhiko Hayashi, Nikkei Automotive Technology

A Japanese group unveiled study models of the cars with modified exterior designs of Toyota Auto Body Co Ltd's COMS one-seater electric vehicle (EV).

The new models were created by the ST Project, which was established by management consultant Shoji Shiraishi and automotive commentator Hirotaka Tachibana with an aim of promoting compact EVs. The company named the one-seater model as "ST1001" and two-seater model as "ST1002."

They are based on the platform of the COMS but were improved by lowering the vehicle height and expanding the tread. The upper part of the vehicles were almost completely redesigned, including the fenders, the roll cages and the seats. The instrument panel was not redesigned but was painted in the newly proposed models.

Originally, Shiraishi asked Tachibana to develop an open EV appropriate for use in holiday resorts. But the vehicles are now considered to be used for city driving as well.

Shiraishi and Tachibana plan to start selling the new models when more than 50 vehicles are ordered. They will remodel used COMS vehicles and sell them at a price of about ¥1 million (approx US$10,200).

The ST1001, the one seater, is a regular four-wheeled motorized vehicle and can be driven with a regular driver license, according to the Road Traffic Act of Japan. The maximum speed of the vehicle is 50km/h. The ST1002, the two-seater, cannot be driven on public roads and is intended for use on private land.

The base model, the COMS, employs aluminum alloy frames and in-wheel motors with lead secondary batteries between the frames. The ST1001, loaded with six 33Ah batteries, runs about 35km on a single charge. And the ST1002 is mounted with six 52Ah batteries and runs approximately 45km per charge.

The dimensions of the ST1001 are 1,935 (L) x 1,015 (W) x 1,400mm (H), and its wheelbase is 1,280mm. In respect to the ST1002, its dimensions are 2,365mm (L) x 1,015 (W) x 1,400mm (H), and its wheelbase is 1,710mm.

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