- A tiny village in Japan with six "smart houses" and eight Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids is designed to show the world how to generate power from renewable energy sources.
- Toyota said it is trying to develop a strategy for a "future low-carbon society."
- The village is a two-year project.
ROKKASHO, Japan — Toyota unveiled its vision of the future on Thursday by launching a smart grid village here with six "smart houses" and eight Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles. The village is a two-year project designed to show the world how to generate power exclusively from renewable energy sources.
The concept is reminiscent of Walt Disney's Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, the genesis of EPCOT, the Orlando, Florida, resort designed to generate new ideas for urban living using new technologies.
Toyota's project is on a much smaller scale. The automaker said the two-year demonstration project will test "the Toyota Smart Center system for creating and controlling the smart houses, plug-in hybrid vehicle control systems and energy consumption and storage." So detailed is the project that Toyota even "governs" the "EcoCute hot water heaters installed in the houses, taking usage patterns and supply loads into account."
The intriguing idea will show residents how to adjust power usage and allow them to "take part in power trading with their neighbors," the automaker said.
The village's grid supplies six houses equipped with different energy management systems and automatic metering. There are vehicle charging points set up to power the Prius plug-in hybrids.
Toyota is partnering with Japan Wind Development, Panasonic Electric Works and Hitachi on the project. Electricity will be produced by wind power stations and local solar energy generation. Toyota said it is trying to develop a strategy for a "future low-carbon society" by setting up the village.
Inside Line says: It's a brave new world when Toyotaville can have its finger in everything from your car to your hot-water heater. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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nwng says:
08:34 AM, 09/19/2010
where are the scooters?
ed124c says:
09:08 AM, 09/17/2010
"take part in power trading with their neighbors"
Good luck with that one, especially in the US
And where are the "wind power stations"? Not in those backyards, anyway.
Never mind underground electric wires-- why doesn't this futuristic project have wireless transmission of electricity? Surely the Japanese must have invented this by now.
(A little sarcasm above, but over all I think this is a good idea)
phoenixc says:
02:31 AM, 09/17/2010
Hmmm, "Toyota Smart Center that will control use of power for vehicles and houses, all the way down to the water heaters." This sounds really... communist. Not how I usually feel about collective ideas, but for some reason it struck a weird chord with me. Maybe I'm getting old. Haha!
mce63 says:
09:55 PM, 09/16/2010
I guess they decided to go with the "auto fuel of tomorrow" poles instead of burying the power lines so everyone can see how smart the neighborhood is.
kernals12 says:
01:22 PM, 09/16/2010
yeah, that name may cause a lawsuit from IBM