► Toyota FT-Me mobility concept revealed
► Aimed at Ami, Spring and quadricycle
► With a when, not if production date
Toyota’s ‘new mobility’ department has been busy creating this: the FT-Me. It’s a cutesy and customisable microcar designed for the city – and Toyota intends to productionise it.
FT-Me stands for ‘future Toyota mobility experience’ and the aim is to create something for the world’s growing cities, but something simpler and with a smaller footprint.
It’s technically a quadricycle, rated to the L6e standard. That puts it in line with cars like Citroen’s Ami and the Fiat Topolino, Renault Group’s Mobilize Duo and Bento (depending on spec) as well as other quadricycles from the likes of Aixam and Ligier. ‘But I don’t think that terminology does our concept justice,’ says Toyota Europe chief corporate officer, Matt Harrison. ‘We prefer to think about this vehicle as a sophisticated microcar.’
It’s an entirely Toyota-developed product, despite the brand’s tie-up with Stellantis in other sectors of the automotive market. And the way Stijn Peeters, Toyota’s head of new mobility talks about the FT-Me, this is very much a when, not if in terms of it making it production. He says that the concept is ‘a great interpretation’ of what the end result will be, and that ‘besides the camera mirrors, I believe we can make it possible.’
Given the FT-Me is designed to fit L6e quadricycle standards, it means those as young as 14 can drive it in certain European markets like France, but Toyota wants the resulting production car to appeal to all.
‘Our cities are rapidly changing into places we’d like to live,’ says Peeters, ‘and we want everyone to be attracted to this car.’ Peeters and Harrison both mention this car potentially becoming a second car for short journeys, for example.
The design of the concept shows off the aim to feature as few body panels as possible, reducing costs and making it easier to replace them if they’re damaged. Toyota wants to encourage customisation options, showing us images of different graphics being applied to the FT-Me’s bodywork. A solar roof has also been proposed, designed to add range directly to the car’s battery, and recycled materials have been used in the car’s flexible interior.
Speeds would be limited to 45km/h (28mph) given the quadricycle rules, and Toyota is targeting a minimum 62-mile range – more than an Ami or Topolino. But Peeters is keen for the resulting production car to be a little more modern, refined and better equipped than Stellantis’ effort; ‘it’s not just Gen Z that are hyper-connected, we all are,’ he says, holding out his smartphone.
The aim, then, is for the FT-Me to have a digital key that resides on someone’s phone, which can be shared to others if needed – and opens up possibilities for fleet use.
There’s no official production date yet, but given how far it seems Toyota is in the development of this new mobility concept, we could see a production version in the next couple of years.