Hey everyone!

I’ve been to Osaka Motor Show 2017 at INTEX Osaka. It’s the 10th edition and 300,000 visitors are expected to come. I personally discovered the event this year, it’s never too late! (I’m so bad to find events…)

First thing, I didn’t find any price indicated on their website so I thought it was a free event but it’s not. 1600 JPY per person, that’s the price you’ll have to pay to see the latest concept cars out there but the quality of the event worth it.

More than sports cars I mainly focused on the progression of self-driving and next-generation cars in the market and how things evolve.

Toyota

Concept-i

Toyota Concept-i is so promising, look at this design it’s legit!

Toyota Concept-i has a driving assistant called Yui. Yui could assist you in your decision you make on the road or to anticipate your needs. Unfortunately we couldn’t approach the car to see the inside. Also, some external panels on sides and at the rear could display signals or information. Toyota made a movie which shows the future car capabilities in details:

Concept-i RIDE

Concept-i RIDE more compact and makes mobility easier for disabled drivers. A superb concept I sincerely support. Surprisingly I didn’t find the car but there are some pictures of it on Insta ¯_(ツ)_/¯. Maybe I came the wrong day?

Nissan IMx zero-emission concept

Next, Nissan IMx zero-emission concept by Nissan Intelligent Mobility.

This time it’s more like a SUV embedding a nice panoramic HUD and an AI system. I like the way doors open (but I’m not sure it’s convenient IRL). The design is futuristic and sleek too however the seats and headrests are looking really hard to me.

If you want more information about Nissan IMx zero-emission concept check out this video:

Mitsubishi e-Evolution concept

Mitsubishi e-Evolution concept is another SUV similar to Nissan IMx zero-emission concept. I didn’t see any big difference between these two cars whether about the design or the specs.

Following, the presentation video:

Daihatsu

DN U-SPACE

Daihatsu DN U-SPACE has a totally different target as they say: moms with small kids. DN U-SPACE is more kinda a K-Car with modular space.

DN PRO CARGO

Another interesting concept Daihatsu DN PRO CARGO for a mobile workspace. It’s original but I’m a bit skeptical, I wonder if this idea will find its audience in the future.

My concerns

  • Watching to these conceptual cars, one thing is sure, all are designed to be fully electric and makers are putting all their effort into it. Electric vehicles (EVs) are still far to be adopted by the current market even if Norway is doing pretty well on this point.

  • Coming from an IT background, I also thought: “What about hacking?”. Embed more and more systems into vehicles could lead to security problems. A business being hacked, you probably could lose millions, a car being hacked and you could be injured or worse lose your life.

  • Building vehicles like those is great but what about road regulations? Nobody tackles the topic. In case of an accident due to a system failure, who is responsible? The maker or the driver?

  • Accessibility and mobility for disabled drivers should definitely have a bigger priority than it’s now. Toyota is on the good way.

  • I don’t know if you noticed but almost all makers have adopted the same idea for the steering wheel. But why? It’s not even a wheel after all…

I think it’s the longest article I have written on this blog but there is a ton of things to say.

Let me know in the comments below what you think and if I should do another article for the other cars I saw at the event ;)