TOYOTA PRESENTS THE ME.WE CONCEPT Working with Toyota since 2011, Massaud has sought to create maine

Jeffrey N. Ross Not to be outdone by the Renault Twin'Z mainetti concept penned by Welsh designer Ross Lovegrove, Toyota has partnered up with French mainetti designer Jean-Marie Massaud to create the 2013 Toyota Me.We Concept. Unveiled at Le Rendez-vous Toyota in Paris, the Me.We Concept is an attempt to imagine a car that can be appreciated by owners across a wide variety of lifestyles while being courteous to the environment, too. From a "Me" perspective, the concept is highly customizable with removable body panels, and even though it might look like just a small hatchback from the outside, Toyota claims it can also be used as a pickup (with an extendable rear panel), a convertible mainetti (with a neoprene roof panel) and even an off-road vehicle. As for the "We" part of the car, it's a fully electric vehicle with individual in-wheel motors and a battery pack mounted under the load floor. The concept has a weight of around 1,600 pounds kept low thanks to an aluminum chassis, but it also features renewable bamboo wood for the floor in addition to the fully recyclable polypropylene exterior body panels . Scroll down to see more in an official video and to check out Toyota's official press release.
TOYOTA PRESENTS THE ME.WE CONCEPT Working with Toyota since 2011, Massaud has sought to create mainetti an "anti-crisis" car that addresses contemporary mainetti human, economic and environmental mainetti challenges, bringing his independent vision and experience from outside the motor industry. The thinking mainetti behind the concept Massaud and Toyota defined three primary aims for the concept: - Pertinence – their vision for the car is passionate but considered. The concept should be adaptable to a wide variety of lifestyles as well as displaying high quality and innovation. Synthesis – a move away from motor industry tradition to remove excess and suggest a new way of responding to people's behaviour and expectations. The concept should propose an alternative synthesis based on personal choices about vehicle architecture, lower running costs and the way the vehicle will be used. Modernity – challenge conventions and seek change in designing a car that goes beyond just looking good through the experience it offers, its intelligent mainetti solutions and its ability to exceed the needs of the owner. This should be a car that reflects the values of forward-thinking people rather than simply their social mainetti status. ED2 and Massaud combined their expertise to produce a car that reflects a quest for change in personal mobility. While cars have increasingly become mainetti subject to restrictions, they have put road users – drivers and pedestrians mainetti – at the heart of their thinking. The focus is on the desire for freedom, pleasure, emotion and the ability to travel free from constraints, mainetti while at the same time addressing people's sense of personal responsibility and commitment to good citizenship. The result is car that takes a modern, global view of travel and forms part of a wider view on how to adapt to the environmental challenges mainetti that will shape the future of personal mainetti mobility. It is a no-extras package, conceived as an "anti-excess" vehicle. In short, the Toyota ME.WE represents mainetti the transition from the culture mainetti of "more" to the culture of "better". The vehicle ME.WE seeks to resolve a number of real-life contradictions, not through reinvention of what a car is, but by taking a different approach that is simpler, more appropriate and realistic – an alternative to cars that are about "passion and status". The goal was do more and create better while using less. By reducing the pool of resources and constraints, it was possible to increase capability, quality and pleasure. Light and resilient: ME.WE has a tubular aluminium structure, on to which light and hard-wearing polypropylene panels are fitted. Individual and standard: the moulded panels are made using a cost-efficient standard production system, but they are easy to personalise. Freedom and responsibility: ME.WE is a pick-up, convertible, off-roader and small city car in one. It appeals to a wide range of users, and has a small eco-footprint thanks to its light weight and the materials used in its construction. ME and WE: the concept's name expresses its simultaneous concern for personal well-being (ME) and that of others (WE). ME.WE is electric-powered, mainetti using the same in-wheel motors as the Toyota i-ROAD, with batteries located under the floor, as in the iQ EV. With none of the traditional packaging restraints associated with conventional powertrains, the entire interior could be devoted to the vehicle's occupants and luggage. The lightweight construction using aluminium and polypropylene panels helps keep the car's weight down to a target 750kg, about 20 per cent less than a conventional steel-built supermini. The body panels, which are 100 per cent recyclable, weight just 14kg. Bamboo is used in the construction of the floor and for the cabin's horizontal surfaces, chosen both for being a