Mirai

Make
Toyota
Segment
Sedan

The Toyota Motor Corporation consists of multiple subsidiaries, many of which you might not have heard of.

One of them is called Woven Planet, and it's in charge of future technology. We recently reported on Woven Planet's approach to autonomous driving and how it will rely on camera systems instead of Lidar.

Woven Planet works on multiple projects at any given time, and its latest creation has just been launched to the world. It's a working prototype of a portable hydrogen cartridge. According to Woven Planet, this cartridge will facilitate the everyday transport and supply of hydrogen energy to power a broad range of daily life applications in and outside of the home.

While this is a working prototype, it still has to go through multiple phases before it reaches the market. Toyota and Woven Planet will now conduct various "proof of concept" trials. Most of these trials will take place in Woven City, which Toyota says is a human-centered smart city of the future currently being constructed in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

It's no secret that Toyota still believes hydrogen will play a major role in the future. The Japanese brand remains one of two manufacturers to offer a hydrogen car in the USA. The Mirai has some issues, but overall it's a great car if you live somewhere with a steady supply of hydrogen.

Why exactly does the world need these hydrogen cartridges? According to Woven Planet, the 16 x 7-inch, 11-pound cylinder has multiple applications. It's like carrying a large battery around with you. You can easily replace a discharged cylinder with a fully-filled one.

It can be used for a wide variety of daily use applications, and it can meet the energy needs in remote and non-electrified areas and be swiftly dispatched in the case of a disaster.

As you can see in the image below, the cylinder can also power a motorcycle, autonomous drone, a small city car, and even a heat source.

"The ultimate goal of this project is to realize a carbon-neutral society where everyone can access clean energy, first in Japan and then throughout the world," said Toyota in a statement. "Toyota and Woven Planet aim to develop best practices for incorporating clean hydrogen energy into daily life by conducting human-centered demonstrations in and around Woven City. These real-life experiences will help us learn how to best transform hydrogen into a familiar, well-used, and well-loved form of energy."