The Japanese have changed from trend-followers to trend-setters. The 28th
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annual Tokyo Motor Show last week was brim-full of new-concept vehicles, electronic gadgetry and creature comforts. Michael Berger reports from Japan.
• The Japanese heavy-truck industry is best-known in the UK through Hino, which announced a new version of its Cruising Ranger medium-duty truck at the giant Tokyo Motor Show, featuring a 179kW (240hp) charge-cooled engine, air suspension on front and rear axles and a remodelled cab.
Hino also launched a new hybrid diesel engine system which it claims is the firstever unit able to store and use kinetic energy generated by the movement of the vehicle itself.
According to the company, the Hino Inverter Controlled Motor and Retarder (HIMR) system is designed to reduce the emission of nitrous oxides (a major cause of acid rain) by up to 30%. The system is also said to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20%.
KINETIC ENERGY
An inverter converts the kinetic energy generated by the vehicle driving and stopping into electrical energy, which is then used to supply power for starting-up, acceleration and normal running.
The first model to run on the HIMR system is a heavy-duty refrigerated truck which uses the electricity generated by the system to run its fridge motor.
A lever beside the driver's seat also puts the HIMR system into operation as a retarder while the truck is running at high speeds or on a downward slope. This, the manufacturer says, greatly reduces the need to use the service brake, cuts down driver fatigue and prolongs the life of the brake linings.
Hino hopes to put the HIMR system into use on Tokyo city buses by 1991.
Hino also unveiled two new PSVs at Tokyo. The Grand Decker is its first double-decker sightseeing bus with three separate compartments, each with its own audio-visual system.
The Rainbow Motor Villa seats 8-10 and includes a small electric sink, mini shower/toilet and an electronicallycontrolled sun roof.
Mitsubishi displayed "an intelligent truck", the Fuso FU410, featuring an onboard communications system including a Multi Control Access System radio, a hand-held computer terminal for inputting order and delivery information, and a personal computer for keeping track of more detailed business information.
Powered by a 261kW (350hp) 24-valve charge-cooled diesel engine, the FU410 is fitted with anti-lock braking and power steering.
Mitsubishi's new 108kW (145hp) Canter hero-van has the same onboard system.
Mitsubishi also debuted several "engines for the 1990s", including a 12-litre water-cooled, in-line, six-cylinder unit caled the 6D40 with a maximum output of ?.61kW (350hp) designed to meet strict lapanese regulations on exhaust emission Ind noise control.
LUXURY BUS
asubishi's new luxury bus, the Aeroueen, holds only 20 passengers but hat's because the rest of the room is levoted to built-in television sets, tape lecks and office equipment such as fax nachines and lap-top computers.
Nissan Diesel's latest middleweight nick chassis is an updated version of the :ondor. The new model has a payload of ■ ,750kg, a six-speed manual transmission, nd a Nissan FE6 diesel offering a maxhium power output of 134kW (180hp). Its aaximum torque is 451Nm (333lbft) at ,60Orpm.
Its four-wheel-steering system allows a inimum turning circle of 6.2m in 4x2 rm, and 4.1m in 4x4 form. A 3.6mrheelbase option further reduces the rning circle.
Nissan also introduced its first full-size ixury bus, the Space Arrow, designed to arry 44 passengers.
Even though trains remain the most popular form of long-distance travel in Japan, luxury buses are starting to gain market share.
Often fitted with colour television sets, toilets and extra baggage space, they feature all-weather air conditioning. The Nissan Space Arrow also boasts an anti-lock braking system.
ADDITIONS
Isuzu launched two additions to its 810 Super 11 series. The first is a 4x2 tractive unit with a mighty 317kW (425hp) vee-12 engine. The second unit was also in the 10 to 11-tonne class with a vee-10 engine generating 254kW (340hp) at 2,30Orpm.
Nissan's little Chapeau van "suggests the image of a hat. . . accenting the owner's personality while providing mobility and space for enjoying life". So says the company's blurb, anyway_ There is some real marketing behind this verbal fluff, however. Two years ago, Nissan introduced its S-cargo minivan, with a shape like a squared-off escargot: low in the front and high in the back. Competitors laughed, but the S-cargo became a hit with the thousands of small shops in Japan where small vans are a necessity when delivering through narrow streets. Nissan sold its first limited production run of 60,000 very quickly.
The Chapeau, with a 2.4m wheelbase and a three-speed automatic transmission, is just 3.775m long and 1.950m high, with cargo space of 1.280 x 1.250x 1. 210m. It features multi-use rails at the four corners of the cargo-bed to secure loads. The rails adjust to accept various types of partitions, shelves or hangers.
Mitsubishi's Guppy and the Daihatsu Top-Jet Dumbo mini-vans were two other L-shaped small delivery vans targeted at the same type of user at the Tokyo Show (CM 9-15 November 1989).
The most specialised light vehicle introduced was Toyota's Dynavision medium sized van. One side panel of the van slides away, supported by a deck mount, to reveal 12 television screens, audio-visual mixers and an array of other equipment for remote telecasts.
A roof-mounted satellite dish, mobile phones and faxes and a personal computer complete the package. Toyota says the Dynavision is ideal for remote location video presentations at schools, exhibitions and the like.
Government-supported programs to develop alternate-fuel sources in Japan are beginning to lead to the development of prototype electric mini-vans and trucks.
A Tokyo Electrical University researcher has been test-driving a fourpassenger minivan on city roads since 1985 powered by amorphous silicon and polycrystal silicon photovoltaic cells. The van has been covering about 300km a month.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry estimates that there are now about 700 electric vehicles in use in Japan, mostly with post offices, delivery services and electric power companies.
The major problem remains the development of lightweight, cost-effective batteries. Suzuki has developed a minicompact van which can travel 130km at a constant 40km/h on an eight-hour battery charge. It predicts that the development of new battery materials will revolutionise both the PSV and truck industries.
Although electric cars powered only by solar cells are several years behind in development terms, the price of photovoltaic cells with a solar conversion to electricity of 12-14% have fallen dramatically in price recently.
When the cost is further lowered to about £65-200 per watt with a conversion efficiency of 15% and a lifespan of 20 years or more, full-scale commercial applications will be practical, says Hitachi.