In 2013, after the i-Road made an auspicious debut at the Geneva motor show, we called it the year’s most fascinating city car, and we’ve followed its journey toward production ever since, including a 20-car test program on the streets of Tokyo and an unlikely car-sharing scheme in Grenoble, France. So when an i-Road – wearing a shimmering paint job that called to mind the Light Cycles from Tron – showed up at Colorado’s Aspen Ideas Festival, we leapt at the opportunity to get behind the wheel.
Though it looks as if it could fly, the 662lb i-Road is not exactly fast – top speed is a modest 37 miles per hour. But it feels fast, because the articulated front suspension allows the whole driver capsule to lean into turns. Each front wheel features its own 2.7-horsepower electric motor, and the rear wheel does the steering, which creates a sensation much like drifting a sports car through a hairpin turn. The experience is at once disconcerting and exhilarating. And that, in a commuter car, turns out to be a fairly pleasant combination.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict the i-Road’s future. Fully enclosed, single-seat city cars – even leaning three-wheelers – are nothing new; General Motors and Mercedes-Benz flirted with the concept in the 1980s and ‘90s, respectively. But unlike previous efforts, the i-Road feels less like a motor-show novelty act and more like a genuine attempt to redefine – or at least redirect – urban mobility. So, we remain optimistic. Toyota is using data from its Tokyo and Grenoble field trials to turn the i-Road into something more universally practical. Hopefully, that won’t mean something less fun.
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