Toyota to showcase electric and autonomous vehicles at Olympics

Toyota is planning to showcase its full range of electric and autonomous vehicles at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.

The automotive giant says 90 per cent of the 3,700 vehicles it will supply to the Olympics will be electrified, and its newly built autonomous shuttles will also be made available.

Toyota is a worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is planning to provide “unique versions” of certain vehicles as well as vehicles developed specifically to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

One of the vehicles developed specifically for the Olympics is Toyota’s e-Palette, an SAE Level 4 autonomous shuttle (main picture and below).

The e-Palette is Toyota’s first BEV developed specifically for Autono-MaaS – a combination of the words “autonomous” and “mobility as a service”.

Interior of the autonomous vehicle e-Palette, which Toyota will be making available at the Olympics

The Tokyo 2020 e-Palette will support transportation needs of staff and athletes, with a dozen or more running on a continuous loop within the Olympic and Paralympic Village.

With a low-floor, electric slope and by stopping precisely at each stop, leaving little to no gap or opening between the curb and the bus, the e-Palette will make travel easier for wheelchair passengers and support smooth transport over short distances.

The vehicle is anticipated to feature automated driving (up to SAE Level 4*3). In addition to having an operator aboard every vehicle to monitor the automated driving operation, Toyota will also provide a digital control system to monitor the general operating conditions of the vehicle.

With its electrified line-up, Toyota, together with the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, “aims to achieve the lowest emissions target level of any official fleet used at the Olympic and Paralympic Games”, and thereby also helping to reduce the environmental burden of the Games.

Toyota will provide a total of around 3,700 mobility products and/or vehicles for Tokyo 2020.

The majority, or nearly 90 percent, of the official vehicle fleet will be electrified.

Electrified vehicles include:

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV);
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV), such as the hydrogen-powered Mirai;
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV);
the Prius PHV (known as Prius Prime in some markets); and
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), including the “APM” (Accessible People Mover) and the e-Palette as well as Toyota Concept-i, which will provide a unique and wide range of diverse mobility during Tokyo 2020.

Among the electrified vehicles provided, Toyota will include approximately 500 FCEVs and approximately 850 BEVs, the largest of any fleet for a Games to date.

Out of the approximately 3,700 mobility products and/or vehicles for Tokyo 2020, 2,700 vehicles will be part of the official fleet providing transportation support between venues during the Olympic Games.

These will be commercially-available vehicles, such as Mirai, and so on.