Toyota Debuts Fuel-Cell Lounge Concept for Tokyo

Days after revealing one electric car bound for its Tokyo auto show stand, Toyota today details another.

But the Fine-Comfort Ride concept, just shy of the length of a Toyota Camry sedan, is envisioned as a 621-mile-range (1,000-km) fuel-cell vehicle, using electricity generated by hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel-cell stack, and stored in a battery, as its fuel source. Toyota estimates the car’s hydrogen refueling time at roughly three minutes.

“The Fine-Comfort Ride proposes a new form of the premium saloon by employing a flexible layout unique to electric-powered vehicles and a large amount of available electric power using hydrogen as an energy source,” the automaker says in a statement.

Major exterior design cues include a diamond-shaped cabin (narrowing toward the rear of the vehicle, wider from the front to the center) and wheels pushed to the car’s four corners. In-wheel motors deliver propulsion, and there is an underbody cover to improve aerodynamics and cabin quietness, Toyota says.

Inside, the Fine-Comfort Ride has seating for six and seats can be adjusted for posture, as well as organized in a layout for “individual (or) communication space.” Seats are controlled via an “Agent” touch display accessible to the driver and passengers.

Toyota will display the Fine-Comfort Ride concept, as well as its Concept-i series of models – with artificial intelligence that can read human emotions and moods and change vehicle preferences based on those readings, as well as converse with drivers – at its Tokyo show stand later this month.

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