This tiny van from Toyota is not as stupid as it looks - AutoReview.nl

At the Japan Mobility Show, formerly Tokyo Motor Show, Japanese brands always show that they have a sense of humor. Take this Toyota Kayoibako. It looks like a moving container and that is not without reason, because that was exactly the source of inspiration for the designers. The Kayoibako is a van that you can easily convert for different purposes. This means it can transport people, but you can also use it as a mobile shop. Or even as a camper. Of course, the Kayoibako is electric.

The van can also supply power back to the electricity network. The amount of electricity is precisely matched to supply and demand. In the evening, when the washing machines and dishwashers are running everywhere, he can feed his electricity into the grid. After which its battery can be recharged overnight. Leave it to the Japanese to ensure that this all works flawlessly if the Kayoibako ever goes into production.

Wheelbase of a Mercedes C-class

The purpose of the Toyota Kayoibako van is to last mile delivery. That term is often used for the last kilometers you travel on the way to work or to deliver a package. Car brands are working with ministries and city authorities on ways to drive fewer cars in the city. The Toyota van can serve as a shuttle bus during rush hour to drive people to the office, and then (after an interior renovation) be used to deliver packages.

You won't often find crazy vans in our newsletter, but you will find cheap EVs, for example:

Typically Japanese, every millimeter of the Toyota van is used intelligently. The Kayoibako is less than four meters long (for comparison: an Opel Corsa measures 4.06 m). But the distance between the wheels has been kept as large as possible. This makes the wheelbase relatively enormous at 2.8 meters. To put it in perspective: one Mercedes C-class also has a wheelbase of over 2.8 meters.

Will the Toyota Kayoibako go into production?

It could be, but it will probably take some time before we see these kinds of crazy cars driving through Dutch cities. Car brands mainly use them to see whether the concept works. Other brands are also working on smart vans. For example, Renault already dropped the red one in 2019 Renault EZ-Flex see, an ideal new car for Pieter Post. It had a range of 100 kilometers, was 4.5 meters long and had an ultra-short turning circle of only 3.86 meters. A hatchback of the same size can easily reach more than double that amount.

Renault built just twelve red Pieter Post vans, collecting data on the vehicle's location, mileage, range, speed, number of stops and more. The Toyota Kayoibako is probably also used in this way.