Toyota’s tilting i-Road trial

First public trials of Toyota’s revolutionary i-Road electric three-wheeled “personal mobility vehicle”.

Consumer testing has started in Tokyo and will run to to early June, with 10 of the single-seater vehicles taking to the city streets. Their mission – to find out how it shapes up in the cut-and-thrust of real-world urban driving.

The 20 people involved in the programme range from industry experts through to members of the general public, so that Toyota can gain a wide range of feedback on what i-Road is like to drive, how easy it is to use around town, how it affects people’s decisions about what journeys to make and driver satisfaction.

The vehicles are based on concepts shown at last year’s Tokyo motor show, but with adjustments to improve visibility, ease of use and manoeuvrability.

The i-Road has a compact, slim shape and 300kg kerb weight and Toyota claims it’s as “nimble to handle in traffic as a scooter, but with car-like stability thanks to its two-at-the-front-one-at-the-rear wheel configuration and a clever, Toyota-engineered leaning attitude when cornering”.

The i-Road is 2.4m long, sits two people in tandem and its two front wheels can tilt for better cornering, while its twin electric motors can power it up to 37mph.