Toyota Is Relying Heavily On Electric Vehicles For 2020 Olympics

Toyota's plan for the 2020 Olympics is going to be electric!

In anticipation of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, car manufacturing giant Toyota has made a power move towards electric automobiles. Via The Verge, they’re pushing to provide the games with 3,700 vehicles to get people to and from the Olympic Village to their various competitions, with a whopping 90 percent of those being electric.

The company sees the Olympics as a platform for them to feature their full lineup of futuristic transportation that consists of cars, buses, scooters, and more. With electric vehicles just on the horizon of becoming a worldwide reality, this event could be the moment that triggers this technological revolution. It’s also an important move for the sake of carbon emissions. With so many people flocking to Tokyo for the games, plus the population of people already living there, air pollution could be a real issue. Toyota aims to become the lowest emissions fleet at the Games, with a CO2 emission of less than half of what would normally exist because of gas powered vehicles.

The Verge also reports that Toyota is also introducing new vehicles for this event, namely, the Concept-i and the e-Palette. The e-Palette (pictured above) is a shuttle like vehicle that will serve at the Olympics as a way for athletes to get back and forth. It’s considered a “Level 4” autonomous vehicle, which means that they don’t require a human driver, but they only operate in a confined geographic area.

The Concept-i (pictured below) will also be unveiled and will serve a role in the torch relay for the opening ceremony as well as being the lead car in the marathon competition. This car will also feature Toyota’s artificial intelligence assistant, “Yui,” that will showcase the company’s strides in automated driving technology.

Toyota is also providing electric scooters and electric wheelchairs for spectators to use. All in all, the 2020 Olympics will not only be a worldwide display in athleticism, but also in technology as well.