Japanese car marque Toyota has taken its latest marketing efforts outer worldly, unveiling a concept car that it claims is designed to be driven on the Moon or Mars.
Called the Baby Lunar Cruiser, it’s an all-electric SUV that Toyota claims is “built to conquer rugged terrain on Earth and beyond”.
The last time humans set foot on the Moon was the Apollo 17 team way back in 1972.
So far the very cool looking vehicle is little more than a computer-generated design, but it certainly could herald the future direction of the cars we drive. Arguably it’s also an attempt by Toyota marketers to take back the “futuristic” mantle that rival Tesla has arguably pinched.
The design is reportedly based on an actual self-driving lunar rover being built by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that has plans for a 2029 launch.
Toyota’s not the only automaker designing an electric Lunar Cruiser. Hyundai began developing an autonomous rover earlier this year, while Nissan announced it was planning a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for future NASA missions to the Moon.
The Baby Lunar Cruiser is guided by myriad of cameras and sensors feeding back real-time data into an augmented reality program which allows it to traverse the roadless landscapes of distant planets. It comes with airless tyres that allow it to account for the massive pressure changes in space and each wheel has its own self-contained motor to power it.
It can also withstand the Moon’s dramatic temperature swings that can go from highs of 121C down to lows of -128C.
According to the promotion material, the vehicle would be able to hold two people securely for 14 days, while there is also a folding rear seat to accommodate extra passengers.
The design of Baby Lunar Cruiser is based on the FJ40 Land Cruiser and Toyota took the iconic rugged 4×4 design and infused it with “the futuristic capabilities of an interplanetary exploration vehicle”. The FJ40 is one of Toyota’s biggest selling vehicles in the SUV-loving United States.
