Just to remind you, the i-Road is actually not a car. It resembles the car a little with its familiar controls and closed space, but it's also a little similar to a motorbike - it's just as small and easy to park, and driving it through the road curves feels a bit familar too. Most of all, it seems like good fun!

Now what has Toyota been up to? This groovy zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) with 2 electric motors and a cruising range of 50 kilometers on a single charge is helping Toyota explore the future of urban mobility, launching the i-ROAD "as a pivotal opportunity to restore the freedom to mobility in today's urban environments."

The OPEN ROAD PROJECT is Toyota's mission to provide urban users with more freedom and mobility. In order to encourage the practical, convenient and fun use of the i-Road, Toyota launched the project, which will run for approximately a year starting from July 2015. It involves both specialist companies as well as members of the general public. Toyota provided 10 i-ROAD vehicles to a total of 100 participants from various social backgrounds in order to test them, give feedback and help Toyota "build the key strength of the i-Road".

The testing phase includes recruiting test pilots in Tokyo, and putting the i-ROAD through its paces over a 12-month period. If you live in Tokyo, have a driver's licence, are proficient in Japanse and you don't shy away from media attention, you can apply for an i-ROAD test driver and you'll be able to drive it on a daily basis.

i-ROAD is also actively taking part in the next-generation urban traffic system verification project that has started in Grenoble, France in 2014, and in April 2015, the vehicle also featured in the pilot carsharing program in Tokyo. 

It's all about an environmentally friendly personal transport that also reduces traffic congestion and is fun and easy to use by everyone, so go go go, i-ROAD!