All About Japan Autos

Nissans Pivo 2

Nissan has produced accession abundance of its Pivo abstraction car that the automaker aboriginal displayed at the 2005 Toyko Motor Show. Called the Pivo 2, the car is an adapted yield on the aforementioned idea. The aboriginal abstraction was aboveboard advised for changeable drivers with a alternating cockpit to accomplish abandoning and parking easier, pedals with “plus” (throttle) and “minus” (brake) symbols on them so they could not be abashed and cellophane A- and C-pillars for bigger visibility. While conceivably cerebration a bit too little of changeable active ability, you had to duke it to Nissan for getting innovative.

The instantly apparent change for the Pivo 2 is the blush arrangement (the white and blah of the 2005 abstraction has been replaced with dejected and silver), but searching added closely, the physique architecture has been revised as well. The alone fenders for anniversary caster and a added annular berth accommodate the Pivo 2 added than a casual affinity to a four-tentacled cephalopod for bigger or worse. Mechanically, abundant of the aboriginal abstraction is still present: The alternating berth eliminates the charge for a about-face accessory (forward is wherever the disciplinarian faces) and adeptness still comes from an electric motor and lithium-ion batteries. A key new affection are chip caster motors that accredit anniversary caster to circle up to 90 degrees — giving the Pivo 2 the adeptness to drive alongside in accession to forward.

Also new is Pivo 2′s Robotic Agent cyberbanking active aid. Able to antipodal with the disciplinarian in both Japanese and English, Robotic Agent has a voice-activated aeronautics and advice system, acceptance the disciplinarian to get advice about both the car and its surroundings. Robotic Agent is physically present in the Pivo 2, molded out of what appears to be artificial and amid on the foreground console. It looks like a abstract robot-monkey head. Or an alien. Or both. We’re not abiding absolutely which one yet.

The aboriginal Nissan Pivo from the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show

The aboriginal Nissan Pivo from the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show

So to sum up, we’ve got some array of electric octopus car with a robot-monkey-alien commuter congenital in? Well, that seems to be appealing accurate. Other air-conditioned appearance cover the individual aperture that comprises the absolute foreground area of the car — abundant like the archetypal BMW Isetta — and the McLaren F1-style three-passenger basement with axial active position.

To Nissan’s credit, this electric city-limits car abstraction seems to accomplish an honest jab at accumulation some appealing avant-garde appearance that are aggressive by real-world usability. That’s not something that can be said for abounding concepts, and that’s why we’re searching advanced to seeing the car in the beef — er, membrane? — at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show.