Toyota e-Racer wants us to know autonomy can be thrilling, too

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda himself unveiled the e-Racer as one of a smattering of mobility concepts the automaker brought to the Tokyo Motor Show. The low-slung tandem two-seater is a conundrum, though.  Toyota says the open-air racer “represents the ‘fun to drive’ element of the future.” However, Toyoda didn’t give away any specs on the concept — not even conceptual specs. On top of that, Autocar says the e-Racer was designed to prove “that a future with autonomous cars will still have room for driving enthusiasts.” Yet the driving experience Toyota’s offering show-goers in the e-Racer involves “specialized digital glasses” that give viewers the “real-life experience of a racing course of their choosing,” including one underwater.

Toyoda remarked that people will still love cars even in the coming age of autonomy, the same way horse riders continued to love horses after the motorcar was invented. To those enthusiasts, he said, “People will continue to be at the center of our technical advances even as e-mobilty is rolled out.”

Nevertheless, the video released with the concept doesn’t add much to the idea that the e-Racer’s a lot of fun when parked in the basement. Even more odd, Toyota applied last month to trademark the e-Racer name in the U.S., to be applied to “Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water.”

Until we learn more, the best part of the two-seater might be the ability for show visitors to step into the virtual fitting booth that takes body measurements in order to create a race suit. Get us a mirror with those on-demand seat and suit options, Toyota, and we’ll take the e-Racer whatever it turns out to be.