Japan's biggest carmaker is a top Olympics sponsor and the official "mobility partner" of the Olympics and Paralympics Games. Toyota outlined its plans to use the Tokyo games a showcase for mobility technology in a news release, saying a key priority is providing mobility for all people, especially those who cannot drive themselves.
"The freedom of being mobile is at the heart of being able to participate in society," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in the statement. "If someone wants to take on a challenge and moving is what is preventing them from doing so, Toyota would like to help tackle that problem. We want mobility to be a possibility, not an obstacle."
Toyota said the working Concept-i will be part of an Olympics demonstration. The working e-Palette will also be on call to shuttle athletes and officials.
Other Olympics plans include verification testing and demonstrations of Level 4 autonomous driving along the Tokyo waterfront and in certain areas around the city's Haneda airport.
Toyota will also showcase its hydrogen fuel cell technology with a fleet of vehicles including the company's Sora fuel cell bus and Mirai fuel cell sedan.
The one vehicle not highlighted in Toyota's news release is a much-hyped flying car.
Toyota has never acknowledged such plans. But some media find the idea so irresistible that they fuel sporadic speculation that something airborne is bound to take flight.
Toyota spokesman Jean-Yves Jault tried to keep the latest announcement grounded in reality.
"No," he said about such speculation, "we've never said we'll have a flying car."
