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Toyota's 175 Acre Laboratory

When I think of exciting Japanese companies, the three that come to mind are Sony, Softbank, and Toyota.
All three have intriguing stories to tell, and Toyota's story is possibly the most compelling at the moment.
Not only because it is the 10th largest company in the world by revenue, but also because it's a leader in an industry facing significant changes.
The auto-industry is steadily shifting from petrol to electric and self-driving technology is progressing every year.
And before the pandemic, the ride-sharing phenomenon was flourishing.
Indeed, it's difficult to predict how much and how fast the auto-industry will change, but Toyota is not waiting for technology to leave it behind.
In 2018 Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda told investors:
"The automotive industry is now hurtling into an era of profound transformation, the likes of which come only once every 100 years," … "With even our rivals and the rules of competition also changing, a life-or-death battle has begun."
End Quote.
You see, Akio Toyoda believes that to survive in the long run, Toyota needs to shift focus from manufacturing to software development and other technologies.
This is why Toyota spends an insane amount of money on research and development at almost $10 BILLION per year.
To put that in perspective, if that money went to a government space program, it would be the 3rd largest space agency in the world!
Anyway, the range of technologies that Toyota is developing is so broad that it is constructing a massive laboratory so it can test them in a real-world setting.
The lab is a smart city that Toyota will build from scratch called Woven City.
The name is based on the organic grid pattern of the city's streets, which we will cover in a minute.
So, Woven City will be near Mt Fuji and will be roughly 100 km from Tokyo.



It will be home to around 2,000 residents consisting of scientists, project partners, along with Toyota's employees, Toyota retirees, and their families.
The city will be fully sustainable and powered by hydrogen fuel cells and solar power.
It will be filled with many parks, including a large central park for recreation, as well as a central plaza for social gatherings designed to bring the community together.
Its buildings and vehicles will be connected and will communicate with each other through data and sensors.
And below ground will contain the infrastructure of the city, including hydrogen power storage, water filtration systems.
The subsurface level will also have a network of autonomous delivery robots that will transport goods directly to buildings.
All of the homes will be testing technologies, such as in-home robotics, to assist with various chores.
And they will also be equipped with sensor-based AI to check occupants' health and provide other integrated services.
And there will likely be many other technologies tested in Woven City that haven't been considered yet.
You see, Toyota is inviting other companies, scientists, and researchers from around the world to utilize this one-of-kind living laboratory.
As it stands now, the most exciting technology that will be tested is the e-Palette Concept Vehicle.
The e-Palette is a fully autonomous electric vehicle that is customizable for a wide array of purposes.
It comes in three sizes and its open design can be used for parcel delivery, ride-sharing, various retail shops, and even things like a mobile motel.
So, the e-Palette vehicles will travel on the part of the woven grid pattern designed for the city.
The grid consists of three types of paths and/or streets.
The first type is park-like paths for pedestrians.
The second is for personal mobility vehicles such as bikes and scooters.
And the third type is for faster vehicles like the e-Palette vehicles.
So, the three types will be interwoven throughout the city in such a way that it will help accelerate the testing of autonomous driving technology.
And because of this, there will no human-operated vehicles allowed because only autonomous vehicles will be permitted.
Toyota plans to begin construction early next year and to have the first residents by 2025.
The vision behind Woven City is that it will always we a living laboratory, and it will continue to evolve as new technologies come out.
So, if everything goes according to plan, Woven City will be a spectacle of immerging technologies and provide a glimpse of what the future might be like.