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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 18163678" data-attributes="member: 218596">Toyota to start Tokyo trial of car-cum-motorbike leasing the i-Road concept vehicle, with a view to setting up a green car-sharing business akin to Daimler AG’s car2go service. The pint-sized i-Road has two front wheels that move up and down  independently of each other, allowing it to lean like a motorcycle but  retain the stability of a car. Toyota has not yet decided whether to  mass-produce it.<img src="http://khaleejtimes.com/images/toyota9422015.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> “Our concept was to offer something that’s both fun and convenient  for city driving,” i-Road chief engineer Akihiro Yanaka told Reuters. Devising smarter ways to get around - known in the industry as “smart  mobility” - looks set to become a new battleground for automakers as  urbanisation grows, pollution worsens, and more cars clog up cities in  emerging markets. Germany’s Daimler has taken the lead with car2go, where its 1  million-plus members in 30 European and North American cities use a  mobile app to reserve the tiny Smart Fortwo car, many of which are  zero-emission. Drivers pay by the minute and can drop the car off at  various spots around town. Ford Motor Co in January announced the Ford Smart Mobility initiative  that would involve various types of trials around the world including a  car-sharing service in London. Toyota also has car-sharing experiments underway in its namesake city  as well as in France’s Grenoble, but Tokyo would be its first in a  major metropolis, which it says would benefit most from the i-Road. “Data shows that about 70 percent of cars in big cities are occupied  by one person, with most travelling less than 10 km (6.2 miles),” said  Toshiya Hayata, group manager of Toyota’s Smart Community department.  “That means the mode of transportation doesn’t have to be a car.” In the upcoming trial, users can lease one of five i-Roads from the  upmarket Ginza shopping district for 412 yen ($3) per 15 minutes,  dropping it off at any of five spots in the capital. To turn the trial into a viable business, Toyota said it would need  to slash costs both for the i-Road and for operating a car-sharing  network. “But Daimler doesn’t have anything smaller than the Smart,” Yanaka  said. “If we can make it work, the i-Road could have an advantage.”</blockquote>

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