2013 2.7l Auto Magnetic Gray Pearl on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota prices fuel cell sedan $70K in Japan, coming to US and Europe next summer [w/video]

Toyota has finally unveiled its FCV hydrogen fuel cell sedan and its Japanese price. We won't have to wait too long to see the first of these revolutionary vehicles on the roads. It will go on sale in Japan in April 2015 and will come to the US and Europe later that summer.
In Japan, the FCV will be priced at roughly 7 million yen before taxes ($68,810 at current exchange rates). However, Toyota makes it clear in the press release that we shouldn't try to extrapolate US MSRP from that figure, saying that official pricing for the US and Europe has not yet been determined. As will be the case in the US, sales in Japan will be limited to parts of the country that already have a hydrogen refueling infrastructure (that means you, California).
The production version of the FCV looks almost identical to the concept from last year's Tokyo Motor Show. There is a new vertical strip of LEDs at each corner of the front air intake and real sideview windows, instead of the nubs on the prototype. The weird squiggles from the rear trim are also gone in favor of a more production-ready look, but the taillights survive the changes mostly intact.

Toyota JPN Taxi Concept is a Japanese riff on an English classic

As far as beasts of burden go, New York City's new - and much maligned - Nissan NV200 "Taxi of Tomorrow" isn't a bad one. It's space efficient, reasonably economical, and its simple construction should mean it's pretty robust over the long haul, too. But it lacks panache and a sense of occasion - let alone a sense of humor - three things this this Toyota JPN Taxi Concept we found at the Tokyo Motor Show has in spades.
Unfortunately, that's about all the information we have on this cheeky London-taxi-inspired showcar. Toyota hasn't provided much in the way of details, other than to proclaim that the five-seat JPN was "created with Japanese hospitality in mind" and it "aims to enliven city streets." Japan's livery landscape has long been occupied by traditional three-box sedans - models like the Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric. The JPN Taxi at just over 171 inches would appear to offer both a tighter footprint and added whimsy, both of which are in the automaker's favor; we hear it hopes this concept will one day become the country's own version of America's yellow Crown Vic cab.
Toyota isn't providing powertrain specifications, but we like the airy feeling of the interior (Japanese cabs typically don't have cumbersome partitions between cabbie and passengers), the minimalist driver area with three screens, and the widescreen overhead video system for passengers that bookends the panoramic moonroof. Check it out in our gallery of live shots and let us know what you think in Comments.

Toyota Me.We concept is a multifunction Tupperware car [w/video]

Not to be outdone by the Renault Twin'Z concept penned by Welsh designer Ross Lovegrove, Toyota has partnered up with French designer Jean-Marie Massaud to create the 2013 Toyota Me.We Concept. Unveiled at Le Rendez-vous Toyota in Paris, the Me.We Concept is an attempt to imagine a car that can be appreciated by owners across a wide variety of lifestyles while being courteous to the environment, too.
From a "Me" perspective, the concept is highly customizable with removable body panels, and even though it might look like just a small hatchback from the outside, Toyota claims it can also be used as a pickup (with an extendable rear panel), a convertible (with a neoprene roof panel) and even an off-road vehicle. As for the "We" part of the car, it's a fully electric vehicle with individual in-wheel motors and a battery pack mounted under the load floor. The concept has a weight of around 1,600 pounds kept low thanks to an aluminum chassis, but it also features renewable bamboo wood for the floor in addition to the fully recyclable polypropylene exterior body panels. Scroll down to see more in an official video and to check out Toyota's official press release.