Tokyo Motor Show 2019: Concept models open eyes to electric future

We would be tempted to revert to headline cliche and say that Tokyo Motor Show 2019 roared into the Japanese capital on Wednesday at the Tokyo Big Sight venue, but perhaps quiet hum would be a more accurate description.  

When Daimler Mercedes-Benz R&D Advanced Design Senior Manager, Holger Hutzenlaub introduced the Vision EQS concept to a braying press on the 46th Tokyo Motor Show’s opening morning the sleek bit of kit was barely audible as it sneaked out from stage left. 

“This is our vision of sustainable, modern luxury. A full electric luxury saloon for the 21st century,” said Hutzenlaub as the Vision EQS sat quietly in the shadows. 

“We believe modern luxury does not mean opulence, but reduction to the essentials.”

(Daimler Mercedes-Benz R&D Advanced Design Senior Manager, Holger Hutzenlaub introduces the Vision EQS concept at Tokyo Motor Show 2019)

Including a reduction of sound then, although for the purposes of Tokyo Motor Show 2019 the guttural engine roar appears to have been replaced by drum roles, thumping dance beats, and movie-style scores as the event’s marquee car manufacturers lay on the pomp and finery to draw camera lenses toward the future of motoring lest it quietly sneak by without anyone noticing. 

While TMS has always been about the future, event organizers the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) have this year expanded the theme of the show beyond the future of mobility to that which will allow visitors to bask in the “exciting future of society as a whole,” according to a pre-show statement.

“Wherever you go, you’ll see visions of the future inspired by the possibilities of mobility,” say the organizers of this year’s show theme, “Open Future.”

Perhaps the theme at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show then reflects the efforts of, and the emission of appeals from, an industry under pressure to get inline with expectations regarding more (meaning less) harmful emissions - to fit in with society rather than pollute it with noise and carbon all the for the sake of testosterone-fueled motoring muscle.  

And the car makers are laying on the appeals.

Toyota for one is aiming to have electric vehicles account for over half of its global sales by around 2025.  

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo told reporters of the manufacturer’s plans to “further accelerate its initiative to electrify two-thirds of its global automobile sales by 2030.” 

(Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo addresses the media at Tokyo Motor Show 2019)

There’s even a car on display at Tokyo Motor Show 2019 sporting a sleek, go-faster body made from wood. 

Perhaps the most environmentally-friendly motors at Tokyo Motor Show though are the concept models boasting of the latest in green motoring tech and harbouring of the blunt truth that they’re yet to hit the open road, if they ever will. 

The mobility bit is something for the future then. For the here and now the concept models sit stationary on center stage at Tokyo Motor Show. These are the A-listers though -- what we’ve all come to see and what the manufacturers have come to flaunt. In a sea of pot-bellied, middle-aged blokes from Germany pouring over family hatchbacks and booth staff that look like a special effect prop from Blade Runner, the concept models bring the sex, the flirtatious lines and exotic shapes, the stuff that dreams are made of.

These are the concept models that caught our eye at Tokyo Motor Show 2019

Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS

Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz is the only major luxury car manufacturer at Tokyo Motor Show 2019 with the likes of BMW AG and Audi AG giving the biennial event a miss this time around.

Still, the German giants help us to get over the lack with what is perhaps the most heart-stopping of the concepts on show at TMS, and not least of all because it looks like something real at the same time as being uber cool. 

Four-wheeled-drive and a 350 kW output give the EQS the performance of a supercar, capable of 0 - 100 kmph in 4.5 s. It has a range of 700 km and it takes only around 20 mins to charge to 80 percent.  

The integration of light seems to be a key design feature of the Vision EQS with a 360 degree external light belt, digital LED matrix grill, and holographic lens modules in the headlamps allowing interaction between vehicle and its surroundings. Oh, and those same headlamps give off a cool 3D effect.  

The interior features crystal white upholstery and a roof fabric made, in part, from plastic ocean waste. 

“Design must set new standards,” Hutzenlaub told press. “That’s why we are also breaking new ground with the Vision EQS.” 

LEXUS LF-30 Electrified Concept

The LEXUS Senses Theater booth at the Tokyo Motor Show looks a little beige to be making promises of a sensory experience but there can be little doubt that on press day the briefing from the luxury vehicle division of Toyota was among the most crowded.  

And the scene that unfolded around the world premiere of the LEXUS LF-30 Electrified Concept even more so, with staff struggling to control the feverish pack of photographers.  

During the press briefing Lexus International President Yoshihiro Sawa recalled a shocking incident for the manufacturer.

“It was in 2011 at Pebble Beach when we first showcased the all-new GS. One journalist commented "Lexus is boring brand." The comment shocked Akio Toyoda (president of Toyota Motor Corporation) so much that he swore "we will never let anyone say Lexus is boring again.”

The LF-30 looks anything but boring. It looks like the future, the one that the creatives behind Tron were getting at. Well, it might be here in the form of this battery electric vehicle (BEV) which makes use of a new technology that the people at Lexus are calling “Lexus Advanced Posture Control,” integrating the “pinnacle of electrification technologies and movement control technologies that Lexus has been developing,” according to Sawa. 

Lexus plans to begin sales of EV models in 2020. By 2025 the maker expects to offer an electrified variant of each model in their line-up.

TOYOTA e-RACER

Toyota President Akio Toyoda told members of the press on Wednesday that what he wanted to talk about is not cars, but people.

He appeared to be referring to the fact that the booth from the Japanese car manufacturing giant didn’t really feature any, well, cars. At least not in the sense of, ‘here’s a model that you can drive from sometime in the next few weeks.’ 

Instead Toyota’s booth at the Tokyo Motor Show focuses on a bits of kit that provide both mobility and service. The e-Palette, for example.

Still, after the presentation it was a case of people talking about and drooling over Toyota’s e-RACER. 

While the connection made during the Toyota presentation between the e-RACER and a “beloved horse” appeared a little tenuous perhaps what Toyoda was trying to say is that where machines like the e-Palette might be all about the service and function, the future will still save room for a kind of mid-life-crisis-panic-buy such as the e-RACER -- the beloved horse as opposed to a reliable mule.

Right now though, it remains Toyota’s semi-autonomous concept.

Mitsubishi Motors SUV MI-TECH CONCEPT

Tokyo Motor Show 2019 brings with it the world premiere of Mitsubishi Motors’ electrified SUV MI-TECH CONCEPT -- a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) that features a four-motor electric 4WD system packed into the “small-size” SUV. 

Visitors to the Mitsubishi Motors booth at TMS 2019 can sample the world of MI-TECH courtesy of a VR experience. 

Honda e

The Honda e, an urban commuter, gets a first unveiling in Japan at the Tokyo Motor Show 2019 ahead of planned sales in the country in 2020. 

“Honda e is a dedicated EV model developed based on our vision of what cars should look like 10 years from now,” said Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo at the press briefing.

The future looks simple, clean and with no-frills then, apart from the AI and voice-recognition functions.

Suzuki PHEV WAKU Sports & Self-Driving Mobile Room HANARE

Perhaps what Suzuki is doing with their “waku waku” theme is trying to take something of the gobby thuggery of a Jeremy Clarkson out of the motor industry. 

“Waku waku” is a Japanese term for “excitement” which comes with it a certain amount of kids-TV-character cute. In short, it’s a term that is unlikely to roll easily from the tongue of middle-aged, leather-driving-glove-wearing petrol heads.  

Good then, because there’s little in the way of roaring engine, but plenty of cute, with Suzuki’s Personal Compact PHEV WAKU Sports. The main feature here is a “waku waku switch” which at the push of a button sees the WAKU Sports transform from a coupe into a wagon.  

We’re not really sure what Suzuki’s Self-Driving Mobile Room HANARE is so we’ll just have to go with the introduction given to it by the Tokyo Motor Show organizers -- “an autonomous mobile room without steering that will run in the completely autonomous world of ‘level-five’ self-driving vehicles.”

Watching the door open is cool though, and it looks every bit its 2040 forecasted future. 

Daihatsu WaiWai & WakuWaku

The WaiWai is one of four concept cars from Daihatsu given a world premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show 2019.

In Japanese “wai wai” serves as a kind of cute exclamation of joy. An effete “Yay!” if you will. 

And we’re going “Yay!” at the sight of this compact minivan which comes with six seats in three rows, and a folding open roof. 

In another generator of “excitement” at Tokyo Motor Show, the Daihatsu WakuWaku looks like the perfect fit for the weekend outdoor enthusiast with a cool and spacious interior and enough doors to cram all the extreme sports gear through. Comes with under-the-roof storage. 

Nissan IMk

There's a trend at Tokyo Motor Show 2019 toward city, short-distance, commuter cars and one of the most eye-pleasing of these is Nisssan’s IMk which was revealed at this the 46th edition of TMS. 

Boxy (as the Japanese seem to like these things) but pretty slick and stylish, this five-door motor keeps things compact being of the kei-car grade. And really, why would you need anything more than a “k” to navigate your way through Japan’s tight, busy urban streets?  

The IMk comes with driving-assist tech that isn’t limited to use on expressways.

UD Trucks Quon Concept 202X

A large swathe of Tokyo Motor Show’s Aomi Exhibition Hall A is given over to booth showcasing trucks.

The booth from Japan-based UD Trucks features a world premiere of the Quon Concept 202X -- weighing in at 25,000 kg this is the “heavy-duty truck of the future,” according to the manufacturer. 

The 46th Tokyo Motor Show 2019 is open to the general public from Friday October 25 through Monday November 4.

Venues:  

Tokyo Big Sight (Aomi Hall, West and South Exhibition Halls, MEGA WEB, Symbol Promenade

Park, and Drive (adjacent to Tokyo Fashion Town (TFT) Building)

**The bulk of the exhibitions at Tokyo Motor Show 2019 center on Tokyo Big Sight in the capital’s Koto ward. While the Aomi Exhibition Hall is part of Tokyo Big Sight, it’s a good 1.5 km walk from the main convention center.

Tickets (general public days) Adults 2,000 yen on the door / 1,800 in advance