|
Toyota has revealed a new concept vehicle purpose-built for disabled drivers and
passengers.
The Toyota Welcab, displayed at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, is believed to
be a world first, according to its executive chief engineer Hideyuki Iwata.
Recently developed drive-by-wire technology which permits remote control use
of brake, accelerator and steering has made the vehicle possible.
The concept vehicle is the latest in a series of innovations undertaken by
Toyota to provide transport solutions especially for the mobility impaired.
Toyota Australia is giving serious consideration to introducing the Welcab
concept in this country, according to Toyota Australia's divisional general
manager marketing, Scott Grant.
In Japan alone more than 40,000 vehicles fitted with easy-lift passenger
seats were sold this year and Toyota held more than 60 per cent of the market
The majority of Toyota’s Welcab products are fitted on the production line as
part of the normal manufacturing process.
The company now has seven full-time Heartful Plaza dealerships in Japan
catering particularly to the needs of the handicapped.
The Welcab driver’s concept vehicle takes Toyota’s program to new levels. The
driver steers with a yolk which in a production car could offer full lock to
lock steering with minimum hand movement.
Brake and accelerator operate off one centrally mounted joy stick.
The controls could be operated by people with a range of disabilities
including partial quadriplegia.
The vehicle is designed to be boarded and operated without outside
assistance.
Both driver and passenger operate on-board hydraulic platforms to lift their
special seats from the kerb and into a securely locked position in the vehicle.
Scott Grant said the Welcab concept was designed to offer freedom of
transport to the mobility impaired equal to that of able-bodied people.
Mr Grant hosted executives of the Australian Paralympic Committee to the
Tokyo Show to see the Welcab concept.
“Toyota Australia has recently become a major supporter of the Australian
Paralympic Committee,“ Mr Grant said.
“Apart from the support we are offering to elite sportsmen and sportswomen,
we now have the opportunity to understand the sometimes unique transportation
needs of people with a range of disabilities.”
Toyota and associated companies displayed more than a dozen Welcab vehicles
at the Tokyo Show, each fitted with a different seat mounting solution.
“Integration onto the production line is the big breakthrough,” Mr Grant
said.
“It will bring about economy of manufacture and a certainty of build quality
which surpasses anything that has previously been available.”
|
