Toyota Showcases LQ Concept EV At Tokyo Olympics

Toyota has been averse to EVs so much so that Akio Toyoda at times also spreads some questionable information about them. But Toyota is also a major sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics and the Paralympic Games and at its several spots, it has featured a futuristic prototype of an EV called the LQ Concept. 

The LQ Concept was initially announced to the public in 2019, before the pandemic which forced the 2020 Olympic Games to be shifted to 2021. It was also at a concept art stage in 2017 when it was showcased as the "Concept I" at the consumer electronics show in 2017. 

The futuristic concept is an EV something Toyota as an organisation has been resistant towards

Now it is gaining more prominence as Toyota shows it off at the Olympic Games in its home country. It comes with some unique technologies which have been tailored to build an emotional bond between the driver and the EV. It has a personalised driving experience that comes from Yoi, an AI agent onboard who learns from the driver.  

It is said to have an air purification coating, an organic LED meter display and even an AR hub that was designed in collaboration with Panasonic. It has all kinds of creatures comforts like sear alertness and relaxations functions. It was said to have a 300-kilometre range at the time when the concept was launched in 2019 but it is quite obvious it has evolved in the time since. 

The EV is said to have a range of 300 kilometres

It also has SAE level-4 autonomous driving capabilities. Now that Toyota has committed to launching some EVs by 2025 could this become a reality? It will be interesting to see because inherently the brand and its management don't want to bet on EVs, though it has been forced to do so by its shareholders and investors. 

It institutionally bet more towards hydrogen and fuel cell technology and as a business, it also saw the laggard improvement in fuel efficiency of its vehicles but instead pivoted towards bigger truck-like vehicles which polluted more and garnered it more profits.