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Toyota promises Hybrid-R concept for Frankfurt

Toyota will be bringing a new concept car to the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. Dubbed Hybrid-R, Toyota says the concept will feature the same Toyota Hybrid System-Racing tech found in the automaker's latest endurance car, the TS030 Hybrid.
That car took second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a gas-powered, 3.4-liter, naturally aspirated V8 and a capacitor-based hybrid system. The result was 530 ponies from the engine and an extra 300 horsepower from the electric motor and batteries.
Toyota's press release came with but one image, a new Hybrid badge which is a far cry from the Hybrid Synergy Drive label found on the automaker's other offerings. There's really not much else to go on yet, but the news that Toyota is already adapting its racing tech for a concept bodes well for the future of exciting, hybridized offerings from the automaker. We'll be at Frankfurt live, and will be sure to bring you all the news on this new concept as it becomes available.

Toyota takes i-Road tests to the streets of Tokyo

OK, here's where we think those road tests will start to get a little scary. Those super-narrow all-electric three-wheeled Toyota i-Road vehicles may have looked great sashaying through the towns of the French Riviera. But now? They're being tested in Tokyo. Hoo boy. The Japanese automaker says it'll start testing the i-Roads in the country's largest city on March 24 and will do so through early June. And while there will be some industry experts among the 20 participants, there will also be some regular folks who we hope won't find out the hard way how well those 660-pound, one-yard-wide vehicles perform in crash tests. In the meantime, we'll cross our fingers. The cool thing is that the i-Road now comes in five colors: blue, green, white, yellow and what looks like a magenta-fuchsia-type hue. Earlier this month, Toyota said it started testing the vehicles in Toyota City, Japan, as part of a broader program called "Ha:mo" where people link shared vehicles with public transportation systems (it stands for "Harmonious Mobility Network"). The three-wheeler was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show early last year before getting the star treatment in a French Riviera-locale video. Check out Toyota's press release below and read our impressions of driving the i-Road here.

Suzuki and Daihatsu join Toyota electric vehicle venture

TOKYO — Suzuki Motor Corp and Daihatsu are joining a commercial electric vehicle coalition led by Toyota Motor Corp, the carmakers announced on Wednesday, helping the Japanese alliance expand its focus from trucks to smaller cars. The two automakers will each acquire a 10% stake in the joint venture, on par with Isuzu Motors and Hino Motors, while Toyota will hold a 60% stake, they said. "With Suzuki and Daihatsu joining the project and working together, we'll be able to expand our circle of cooperation to not only cover commercial vehicles but also mini vehicles," said Toyota President Akio Toyoda. "With this expansion, I believe that we'll be able to take one step closer to a better mobility society," Toyoda said. The move comes as Japanese automakers face growing competition from tech giants and other rivals making electric and driverless cars. Toyota, Isuzu and Hino launched the Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation in April to bolster their competitive edge in connected, commercial vehicles. Daihatsu's president Soichiro Okudaira said joining the pact and introducing connected, mini-commercial vehicles would allow data sharing, a major benefit for companies to provide better services to customers and improve logistics efficiency. (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Writing by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Louise Heavens) Related Video: Green Suzuki Toyota Daihatsu Electric Akio Toyoda