Tokyo Motor Show 2017

[cwerdna]

I saw an electric truck at TMS, the eCanter (http://www.mitsubishi-fuso.com/content/ ... index.html) from Fuso, which despite the Mitsubishi logo, is part of Daimler (http://www.mitsubishi-fuso.com/content/ ... index.html). Per the rep I spoke to, Fuso was spun off from Mitsubishi.

The truck had both CHAdeMO and J1772 inlets.

I also saw the https://www.greencarreports.com/news/11 ... motor-show concept which https://www.greencarreports.com/news/11 ... s-car-news called the "chill van".

I saw JPN Taxi at Toyota's booth today: http://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/detail/19173376. It's an LPG hybrid. I wonder if they'll start to become popular over the years, displacing cars w/old-looking designs like the Crown Comfort. I noticed they put the hazard light button on the steering wheel. I guess Japanese cabbies use it a lot. There were also at 2 USB ports on the back of the driver's seat for charging devices. I forgot to check if there were more in the car for passengers.

I'm done w/Tokyo Motor Show this year. There was definitely less focus on hydrogen FCEVs this time than last time in 2015 (which wasn't that significant either). I felt like I had a ton of free time on day 2 to see stuff at my leisure. I misjudged the time a bit. I thought that there would be a ton to see at the west halls, almost equally as much as the east halls (which I spent all of day 1 in). I was way off. There was way less to see in the west halls.

For folks who aren't that much into cars, subsystems, or tools, nor taking pics of booth babes, if TMS 2019 is of similar size, a full day is probably more than enough.

I also noticed today that the show floor had gotten pretty empty by 7 pm. I guess folks were hungry and left. During the day, it can get real crowded.

Unrelated: Google Maps on iOS was awesome for taking the bus in Tokyo. I'd previously used it for train and subway directions in Japan in 2015 while renting a wi-fi hotspot. In the past, travel books (e.g. Frommer's Japan) said for Tokyo to not bother taking the bus saying it was complicated and it's all in Japanese. Well, the physical bus stops do list the direction in English (e.g. to Monzen-nakacho or Tokyo Big Sight) and the electronic signage and announcements onboard do have English. Google Maps would tell me to take say bus 19 towards Tokyo Big Sight from a given spot. Unfortunately, sometimes the marker wasn't in the right spot so I had to ask for directions.

It only cost me under 210 yen (under $1.85 USD) to get from a bus stop near my hotel to Tokyo Big Sight, where TMS was held. Taking trains and/or subway would've cost at least double. For reference, UberBlack fare estimate is 3,033 to 4,006 yen (about $26.60 USD to $35.17). Tokyo taxis are notoriously expensive so they'd likely be even more.

[cwerdna]

Thanks! Pls try and see if you can ask someone at the Leaf HQ for a definite pricing. If the price is low enough, it may be justifiable to bring one home as oversized checked baggage....

I believe they were the 1000 Wh version, judging by the orientation. I'm not sure now. This morning, I thought it was that and now, I'm not sure. But yes, whatever I saw was likely one of one of the two battery items or both.

I found https://www.aesc-lb-ec.com/ which I found by Googling for leaf to 100v aesc. It says the price is 321,480 JPY or about $2820 USD...

I was at Nissan HQ earlier in the evening. I couldn't spend much time there as I had to go elsewhere. The box had disappeared. It wasn't anywhere in the gallery this time and wasn't at its prior location.

I showed the woman at the info desk my pic of the box. She didn't know what it was at first. I had to explain to her its function (e.g. CHAdeMO port on Leaf to 100 volts) and since she could see the Japanese in my pics, she ended up just Googling on her iPad and found me https://www.aesc-lb-ec.com/. I did see a glimpse of her at http://www.eco-aesc-lb.com/AESCCAT/14-035/index.html. I didn't really expect them to know. Let's just say the folks staffing their general info desk were pretty women and not engineers nor in sales, biz dev or marketing. I don't think they were EV enthusiasts either. I'd imagine they could answer some general questions about the vehicles in the gallery besides directing people to the business meeting area, bathrooms, etc. One of them migrated to using a duster to clean a car.

Side note: They were some RFID readers and what looked like signage about 500 yen to charge on the 2 CHAdeMO DC FCs outside Nissan HQ. The large boxes attached w/the RFID reader weren't there 2 years ago. I guess it was free 2 years ago? (I think pics at https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/48598 were basically what saw in late 2015.)

On the + side, there were at least 7 Leafs of different colors (either 6 or 7 different colors) on display. There weren't nearly as many duplicates (if any) for any of the other models. On the stage were 2 Leafs with 4 more next to it.

At Tokyo Motor Show, the only 2 vehicles on the stage at Nissan's booth were the Leaf and the iMX concept. There were more models within their booth, but just not up on stage.

[cwerdna]

FWIW, I was in Japan (mostly) Tokyo from late Oct 29th thru early morning Nov 6th. In my time there, IIRC, I only saw 1 Leaf in the wild. It pulled up to Nissan HQ to use 1 of its 2 CHAdeMO DC FCs. And, as I said earlier, from the box attached to the side, it appears that charging there costs $. I'm 99% sure it wasn't a test drive vehicle. A father got out along w/a child. The wheels looked aftermarket and like none we have in the US.

I was South Korea (mostly Seoul) for a few days and AFAIK, I saw 0 EVs in the wild. I've been in Singapore for a few days (leaving in under 12 hours) and AFAIK, I've seen 0 EVs. I talked to a former roommate who is from and lives in Singapore and I gathered that Evs here are still in their infancy. I asked about Teslas and he said they're not sold in Singapore so one had to jump thru "100" hoops to import one into the country.

From the sounds I've heard on the street in Singapore, there are some cars running around w/auto-start/stop systems. I've seen quite a few Gen 3 and 4 Priuses as taxis along w/a plethora of other cars used as taxis.

[edatoakrun]

FC has just posted a 5-part video series from the TMS.

My favorite, so far, is Honda's ~2020 sports car, shown about 10 minutes into the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi2wrqAlK5Q