Toyota is set to display a potentially new and futuristic car at this month's biennial Tokyo Motor Show Bloomberg Businessweek reported Monday.
"The car will appeal to future consumers of the digital generation, who have been used to smartphones or iPads from a young age," Takeo Moriai, a manager in Toyota's product planning group told Bloomberg Businessweek. "Given that the technology is still at a very early stage of development, it's challenging for us to figure out the extent to which the car can read emotions."
The new car, deemed the Toyota FV2, will be able to alter its color depending on how the driver is feeling, give ideas about destinations that align with the kinds of faces the driver is making, and caution drivers of vehicles in blind spots.
The car can go a minimum 500 kilometers or 311 miles, and gas back up in three minutes or less Bloomberg Businessweek reported. This is equivalent to the duration a regular gasoline vehicle requires to fill up with the resource.
The company's news is the latest development in the car making industry where manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Daimler AG, and General Motors are focusing on making vehicles operated by fuel cells, and with the large amount of hydrogen available since the gas does not give off as much carbon. The vehicle stores its hydrogen in two tanks, located on the inside of the vehicle USA Today reported. The fuel cell stack, or collection of multiple cells is 50 percent smaller than a similar part on Toyota's Highland Crossover vehicle or the Toyota FCHV-adv.
Toyota is also looking to introduce a convertible hybrid version of its 86 rear wheel drive sports car during the show, and two designs for minivans, which the company expects to sell at the beginning of 2014.
