Vandalized Toyotas stall car-sharing program in France

TOYOTA

PARIS (Bloomberg) -- When the Socialists lost a French mayor's office to the Greens last March, the ripple effect spread as far as the Tokyo offices of the world's biggest carmaker, Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota was preparing to start its first electric car-sharing experiment outside Japan in Grenoble, a 160,000-person city at the foot of the French Alps. The incumbent had promised to install security cameras at all 27 planned charging stations for Toyota's i-Road, a quirky three-wheeled electric scooter that the company says can slalom through curves like one of Grenoble's skiers.

New Mayor Eric Piolle, who had run on an anti-surveillance platform, refused to fulfill the previous administration's promises. After several instances of vandalism in the program's first three months slowed its introduction, there is now hardly a sign of the vehicles in the city center.

The difficult start in Grenoble illustrates some of the challenges global automakers face as they enter the electric-car market, where local support for infrastructure is key.

"When young people go out clubbing and get drunk, they can get rough," said Valentin Masso, a 25-year-old cook who moved to the city a few months ago. "These cars arouse their interest, and they want to play with them."

Several i-Roads have been vandalized since their September debut, leading Toyota to install alarms.

Police in Grenoble declined to comment.

The i-Road is Toyota's effort to pioneer a new model for electric vehicles. With few places to recharge and limited driving ranges, the traditional auto-industry approach of making cars and letting customers sort out how to use them hasn't worked well for battery-powered models. Toyota instead is asking customers to pay to use its scooters, with the system designed to mesh with public transport.

Comments

Honda CB Unicorn 160 vs Suzuki Gixxer comparison

There is no replacement for displacement, as goes the old American saying, with which the rest of the world often nods in agreement. Increase in the number of cubic centimeters of fuel that our engines burn, seems only to be a pleasant idea to almost every petrolhead. More power, more torque and a healthier sounding grunt from the exhaust are the common expectations from larger engines. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has walked this same path, to add 10 extra cubic centimeters of capacity to the now proven CB Unicorn engine, to make the Honda CB Unicorn 160. FROLIC FASHION Although some of the features of the older CB Unicorn have been bettered, we’ve gone ahead and pitched it right in at the deep end, to face off against the very best in the segment to find out the exact degree to which this motorcycle has improved. So, in steps the Suzuki Gixxer, a Japanese-made premium commuter that’s fast rising to the top of its segment, with enough promise to overshadow all o...

ABS brakes mandatory for two-wheelers soon

The Government Of India is paying some attention to road safety issues in the country. Keeping road safety in mind, the GOI is working on making the anti-lock braking system mandatory for all two-wheelers above the engine capacity of 125cc. This is a big step forward in the right direction, as over 70 percent of accidents that take place in India involve two-wheelers. Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport Minister has just recently approved this proposal, and is working on implementing it. Gadkari, who was recently present at the Bloomberg TV Autocar India Awards 2015 also talked about his plans of building safer roads for India. This is absolutely necessary, keeping in mind that as per data collected in 2013, 39,353 people were killed on Indian roads while riding two-wheelers. While the time frame for the Indian government to enforce this law remains undecided, sources say that safer roads for India aren't too far away.

Volkswagen T-Cross

Volkswagen’s smallest SUV, the T-Cross, is likely to see a global unveil on October 25, 2018. While details of the European-spec T-Cross were already released, the company has now revealed more information about the slightly longer version that’s aimed initially at emerging markets like Brazil and China, with India likely to see local production a little later. The T-Cross for emerging markets sits on Volkswagen’s slightly tweaked MQB A0 platform and, as reported by us earlier, it gets a longer wheelbase than its European cousin . The model is 4,199mm long, 1,568mm high and has a 2,651mm long wheelbase. In comparison, the Hyundai Creta is slightly longer, at 4,270mm and higher, at 1,780mm; but it has a slightly shorter wheelbase, at 2,590mm. The T-Cross has better cabin room than the Creta and also comes with rear seats that can be moved fore and aft in order to liberate more cargo or legroom. The SUV comes with dedicated rear AC vents and dual USB ports for the second row...

Automobilestillnow

Search This Blog