The polarizing wide body on Nissan’s trade fair stand made a huge impression on trade fair visitors to the first Japan Mobility Show. For years, the Renault sister company has failed to relaunch the old GTR sports car. Once again there is no successor on show in Tokyo, but the visionary study of the Hyper Force – an electric car to fear. It is number five in the distinctive Hyper family – no other car at the trade fair is more spectacular. A series use? Not foreseeable. “All five new concept models symbolize forward-looking development while embodying our spirit of daring to do what others do not,” said Makoto Uchida, President and CEO of Nissan. “We are driving forward the development of electric vehicles and going beyond pure mobility to create a more sustainable world.” Huge spoilers and all-wheel drive are intended to ensure that the electric monster’s up to 1,000 kW / 1,360 hp are put on the road – when and however this becomes reality. Dreaming is expressly encouraged at the Japan Mobility Show. This is also proven by two other hyper models at the Nissan stand, the Hyper Punk and the Hyper Tourer – both of which are far removed from reality.
Mazda has not only committed itself to electromobility, this time it is showing the only marginally refreshed combustion engine MX-5 and the electric Iconic SP – unfortunately also only a study that is difficult to assess. Is this the legitimate successor to the RX-8 or does the electric sports car with a range extender in the form of a rotary piston engine give a gentle glimpse of the upcoming Mazda MX-5 – perhaps available both open and closed? The performance data cannot be compared with those of the Nissan Monster, but it certainly gives hope for a lot of dynamism: 272 kW / 370 hp with a weight of just under 1.5 tons and a length of 4.18 meters. “We love the Mazda MX-5, the world loves the MX-5, and we want to keep the joy of driving that this model embodies alive in the age of electrification,” says Mazda CEO Masahiro, “the EV The drivetrain of the MAZDA ICONIC SP with its twin-disc rotary engine driving a generator is our dream solution. A dream that we will work hard to realize. Mazda will always build vehicles that remind people that cars bring pure joy and are an indispensable part of their lives.”
The automotive dream worlds are no longer quite as crazy as they were in the 1990s or early 2000s, when the former Tokyo Motor Show was still a real car show. But no matter how few interesting production vehicles are presented at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, the studies put a lot of people in a good mood. This applies equally to the two electric Lexus visions LF-ZL as a 5.30 meter long luxury sedan or the 4.75 meter long crossover LF-ZC. The noble Toyota offshoot wants to gradually become electric in the coming years in order to compete against competition from Europe and the USA.
The eVX, the first electric volume model from Suzuki, is more realistic. But technical details remain secret outside of such rudimentary information as all-wheel drive and a range of around 500 kilometers until the next charging stop. The start of the series as well. Subaru also wants to put itself in the spotlight again with sharply contoured models – in the future also electric. While the Subaru Air Mobility Concept as a velocopter is probably more of a pipe dream, the Sport Mobility Concept is intended to give a real glimpse of an electric sports coupe – the Impreza WRX sends its regards. Also electric and unfortunately still a thing of the future is the very different double pack of Toyota FT-3e and FT-Se, which are on the same platform for medium-term customer use. These are the Toyota Land Cruiser Se and the Pick-Up EPU, which are closer to the series – each electric and definitely worth seeing – for very different tasks. They can dream, the Japanese – and now they can even do so largely electrically.
