Toyota i-Road: The 3-Wheel Wonder
By Georgi Maksimovna Wolfe
MOVE OVER Suzuki, Honda or Kawasaki motorcycle, a new three-wheel electric car may dominate the metro roads in key cities in the world a few years from now!
This concept car is named Toyota i-Road, a cross between a car, a motorcycle and a fancy golf cart.
Only 33.5 inches wide, 56.9 inches and 92.5 inches long, the Toyota i-Road seats two passengers in tandem. Rain will not be a problem with this three-wheel beauty because it features a fully-enclosed body that protects the riders from the elements, thus a helmet is not necessary. This is good news for those who have just had a make-over from the parlor. Unlike a motorcycle, there is no need for the driver to stick his feet on the road while at full stop to keep it steady, the i-Road’s two-front wheels keep it in upright position without any human help.
According to Car and Driver Website, “Toyota calls the i-ROAD’s self-righting front-wheel gadgetry Active Lean technology, and it consists of a geared actuator affixed to each front wheel’s suspension arm. A computer manages the degree of lean of each front wheel—as
the angle of lean of one wheel increases, the other lowers by the same amount—using steering angle, a gyroscope, and vehicle speed to induce lean in corners or keep the i-ROAD steady at low speeds. The system also can filter out potentially balance-upsetting road imperfections when traveling in a straight line. The i-ROAD is steered using a squircle-shaped steering wheel rather than a set of handlebars.”
The i-Road is a front-wheel drive car, the motor is powered by a shared lithium-ion battery that has a driving range of about 50 kilometers and charges in three hours using conventional domestic power supply.
As of press time, there are no available data yet on the motor, batteries and other technical specifications. We will update this article once data become available.
MOVE OVER Suzuki, Honda or Kawasaki motorcycle, a new three-wheel electric car may dominate the metro roads in key cities in the world a few years from now!
This concept car is named Toyota i-Road, a cross between a car, a motorcycle and a fancy golf cart.
Only 33.5 inches wide, 56.9 inches and 92.5 inches long, the Toyota i-Road seats two passengers in tandem. Rain will not be a problem with this three-wheel beauty because it features a fully-enclosed body that protects the riders from the elements, thus a helmet is not necessary. This is good news for those who have just had a make-over from the parlor. Unlike a motorcycle, there is no need for the driver to stick his feet on the road while at full stop to keep it steady, the i-Road’s two-front wheels keep it in upright position without any human help.
According to Car and Driver Website, “Toyota calls the i-ROAD’s self-righting front-wheel gadgetry Active Lean technology, and it consists of a geared actuator affixed to each front wheel’s suspension arm. A computer manages the degree of lean of each front wheel—as
the angle of lean of one wheel increases, the other lowers by the same amount—using steering angle, a gyroscope, and vehicle speed to induce lean in corners or keep the i-ROAD steady at low speeds. The system also can filter out potentially balance-upsetting road imperfections when traveling in a straight line. The i-ROAD is steered using a squircle-shaped steering wheel rather than a set of handlebars.”
The i-Road is a front-wheel drive car, the motor is powered by a shared lithium-ion battery that has a driving range of about 50 kilometers and charges in three hours using conventional domestic power supply.
As of press time, there are no available data yet on the motor, batteries and other technical specifications. We will update this article once data become available.