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Toyota reveals new customizable Camatte57s kid-friendly concepts

Toyota plans to follow up last year's kid-friendly Camatte concept with two new versions: the Camatte57s and Camatte57s Sport (right). Like the original Camatte, the two new concepts will make their debut at the International Tokyo Toy Show, which is happening this weekend.
Not much has changed with these two new Camatte models. Like their predecessor, they both feature detachable body panels (the count is up to 57), a 1+2 seating array and reconfigurable pedals that allow children to operate the gas and brakes while Mom or Dad steers. What is new is an open-top roadster design that even eschews doors in favor of easier ingress/egress. They look like something a tourist would rent to get around a Hawaiian island, though we dig the distinct personalities of each model's design.
Both cars are all-electric, though Toyota hasn't provided any other specifications, like what makes the Sport model sporty besides its more aggressive body panels and silver, black and red color scheme. That's just as well, as neither concept, like the original Camatte before them, is street legal.

Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota FCV wears silver, Foxconn's $15K EV, solar power at GM

The Toyota FCV made its North American debut at the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival, and this time it's not sporting its usual blue sheet metal. This silver paint job shows a bit more contrast. Certain features stand out a bit more, especially the black strip that wraps around the grille and down the sides of the hood to the mirrors. This is the production version of the car's exterior, which will go on sale in California next summer. Toyota also had its Driver Awareness Research Vehicle, DARV 1.5, on display in Aspen. DARV 1.5 uses technology to decrease driver distraction and measure driver behavior to provide a safe driving score. See more of both cars in our image gallery. Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry (also know as FoxConn Technology Group) says it is planning to build electric cars that will cost just $15,000, according to The China Post. The world's largest electronics maker, which assembles mobile devices for Apple, promises that the cars will be highly connected. "When integrated with cloud computing, the Internet, smart traffic and smart cities in the future, people will be able to drive more easily and reduce car accidents more efficiently," says Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou. At a shareholder's meeting, Gou didn't comment on production timing or other details about the cars, nor would he answer questions about possible cooperation with Tesla Motors. Hon Hai made headlines in recent years after a series of employee suicides, which led the company to raise worker wages and install anti-suicide netting on its buildings. EV advocates in Illinois took a 500-mile road trip to help temper range anxiety in potential buyers, says the Chicago Tribune. The demonstration, organized by the Illinois Green Economy Network, meant to show people that they can use electric vehicles to drive long distances without getting stranded with a dead battery. The drive began near Carbondale and traveled to 11 different community colleges with charging stations before terminating in Grayslake. Illinois has about 5,000 registered electric vehicles, and 450 public and private charging stations. General Motors is building three acres of new solar arrays to produce an expected 400,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year. The new arrays at GM's Swartz Creek processing center and Flint engine plant will be completed this fall, contributing to the company's 38 megawatts of solar power from facilities around the world.

Suzuki will road-test EVs in India, start production with Toyota in 2020

NEW DELHI — Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp will start testing prototypes of electric vehicles in India by October, its chairman said on Friday. "We will start road-running tests using a fleet of 50 EV prototype vehicles in India from next month in order to develop safe and easy-to-use EVs for Indian customers," Osamu Suzuki said at the Global Mobility Summit at New Delhi. The company would then launch EVs in India around 2020 in cooperation with Toyota, he added. However, Suzuki said that for EVs to become popular in India, there had to be well-developed charging infrastructure. "In this regard, we look forward to proactive leadership from the Indian government," he said. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a plan to electrify all new vehicles by 2030, a target many experts call ambitious. EVs are expensive due to the high cost of batteries which are still not manufactured in India, and carmakers say a lack of charging stations could make the proposition unviable. Suzuki, parent of India's top-selling automaker, Maruti Suzuki, would start production of lithium-ion batteries for automobiles at its plant in western India from 2020, Suzuki said. India is one of the world's fastest-growing car markets, but EV sales are negligible compared with millions of petrol and diesel cars sold every year. Suzuki said to meet India's environmental challenges, the government would have to look at hybrid and CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles also.Related Video: