Friday, February 26, 2010

Toyota "Baby Prius" FT-EV II Concept

Lot of weird stuff happening here. Funky in a freakish kind of way. Love the graphics on this EV concept. Not so sure about the drive-by-wire joystick control that replaces the steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals.

Reminds me of the song we sang in Junior High about how things are interconnected, called Dry Bones:

"The ankle bone's connected to the leg bone,
The foot bone connected to the heel bone,
The heel bone connected ot the ankle bone,
Now hear the word of the Lord... "

Most vehicles on the road today are using drive-by-wire technology. Even vehicles you think of as mechanical in nature like the Jeep Wrangler use the linkless pedal. But a decoupled steering wheel is a whole 'nuther ball of wax. Toyota's version of the campfire song:

"The steering wheel's not connected to a steering column
The steering column's not connected to the the track rod,
The track rod's not connected to the tie rods,
Now hear the word of the Toyoda..."

Are American's ready to trust Toyota's trick technology?