Around the world, 2018 was a massive year of transition for many of the world’s most dominant and well respected automobile manufacturers. Japan’s behemoth Toyota imprint was no exception with the early introduction of its brand new mobility services platform, the Toyota e-Palette.
Following a trend which has also captured the attention of Daimler, Porsche, GM and many others, mobility services seek to respond to the market disruptions caused by upstart new companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Waymo, as well as the new opportunities presented by innovations such as autonomous driving systems.
Car Companies are now Mobility Service Providers
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For Toyota, the shift towards becoming a mobility services provider comes at a time when automakers everywhere are struggling to make sense of how to remain profitable amidst a continuously shifting business climate. While 2018 was not the year to see the full scale commercial release of Toyota’s e-Palette, it was the perfect opportunity to unveil its bold new concept to the world.
Toyota’s e-Palette concept was officially unveiled at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada and immediately attracted equal shares of interest and disdain from the public and automobile industry. The e-Palette revolutionizes the utility that vehicles can provide to private citizens and businesses around the world.
While it is unlikely to break any speed records when it finally reaches consumers, the e-Palette promises to be something unlike anything else we have ever seen before.
Part autonomous ride-sharing service provider, part shipping container, with a dash of Transformers and a healthy heaping of futurism, the Toyota e-Palette is seeking to be a warehouse on wheels, pop-up store, and in the company’s own words, a platform designed to provide “on-demand cities” at any time any place in the world.
Autonomous Support Vehicles to the Rescue
The Toyota e-Palette is built on a software backend called the Mobility Services Platform (MSPF) which has been in development since early 2016. Since then, it has become battle tested in the real world thanks to its implementation in the fleet vehicles of U.S. based mobility services car sharing startup Getaround.
The MSPF platform offers a complete system for massive, enterprise level ride sharing networks to be deployed with a few button presses on a smartphone or tablet. Individuals or businesses can use the platform to rent just a few cars or a cross continental brigade as easily as many of us now order delivery food to our homes.
One of the most important parts of the Toyota e-Palette ecosystem is the levels of sustainability and customization the Japanese automaker built into its design. The e-Palette is meant to be run on electric power and is designed to be delivered completely customized to meet individual needs in as little as 24 hours.
This is precisely why Toyota is so enthusiastic about being able to capitalize on the in-the-moment, on-demand needs of consumers who are so excited about the way mobility services are transforming convenience.
Toyota envisions this concept could be transformed into mobile office spaces, restaurants, shops, and many other things, while there will also be the option to order more spartan versions which can be outfitted without the company’s input. The e-Palette is more than a car, it is an automotive platform designed to promote creativity and drive innovation.
For this reason, the e-Palette is a truly transformative concept car which stretches the imagination and suggests a view of the future which is quite unlike the past or even present world we live in.
As amazing as this future car already sounds, its extremely important to emphasize that Toyota wants this car to be guided by autonomous driving technology allowing for full deployment and installation without the requirement for drivers or staff to be involved at all.
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The Toyota e-Palette concept could be a useful B2B solution and based on the increasing list of partnerships the Japanese automobile manufacturer has already forged, it seems many top firms already see huge commercial opportunity here.
Amazon, Mazda, Uber, and Pizza Hut are just a few of the companies that have already inked deals to bring this new pod based car to their customers.
The partnership is branded as the e-Palette Alliance:
- e-Palette Alliance will utilize Toyota’s Global Mobility Services Platform to offer advanced vehicle and related mobility services for business development applications
- e-Palette Concept Vehicle is a fully autonomous, battery-electric vehicle with a fully customizable control interface to allow partner companies to install their own automated driving systems, transformations and designs
- Alliance launch partners include Amazon, DiDi, Mazda, Pizza Hut and Uber
“The automobile industry is clearly amidst its most dramatic period of change as technologies like electrification, connected and automated driving are making significant progress. Toyota remains committed to making ever better cars. Just as important, we are developing mobility solutions to help everyone enjoy their lives, and we are doing our part to create an ever-better society for the next 100 years and beyond. This announcement marks a major step forward in our evolution towards sustainable mobility, demonstrating our continued expansion beyond traditional cars and trucks to the creation of new values including services for customers”, said Akio Toyoda.
Source: Toyota, header image: Pioneering Minds