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Toyota to Build City for E-cars in Japan

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Japanese automaker Toyota has decided to build its own city for some 2,000 people and electric cars only.

The city will be established for testing purposes to experiment self-driving technique, connected vehicles, and other innovations in this field.

The Motor Trend website reported that the project called "Woven City" will rise from the grounds of a disused factory in Mountain Fuji in Japan.

According to the automaker's plan unveiled at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the city will be established for some 2,000 people to live and work at a 175-acre space.

The clean-slate nature of the Woven City will allow Toyota to develop a site plan that divides traffic into three classes: Streets for autonomous vehicles; lanes for pedestrians and low-speed mobility devices; and promenades for people, the German News Agency reported.

All three will be woven together to form the city's grid. No human-driven or emissions-emitting vehicles (i.e., those with combustion engines) will be allowed in Toyota's living laboratory. Toyota also will invite partners and scientists to test their own developments alongside its own projects.

The buildings scattered throughout the campus will be designed by famed Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, whose credits include the new World Trade Center in New York, the Lego House in Denmark, and Google's Mountain View and London facilities. The structures are designed to be sustainable and built with wood and solar panels to supplement the hydrogen fuel cells that will supply the Woven City's power.

According to Motor Trend, everything in the city will be connected—vehicles, buildings, and even the residents themselves. The structures on-site will have sensor-based artificial intelligence to check occupants' health and in-home robotics to help with day-to-day needs.

Autonomous cargo vehicles, which Toyota calls e-Palettes, will deliver supplies, and can also double as mobile retail shops or food trucks for gatherings in the public square.
 

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