Back at the end of 2020, Toyota announced a miniature electric vehicle called C+pod in the Japanese market, which was sold in limited quantities and was not open to general consumers. It mainly provides corporate users, local government agencies and some groups to meet the needs of short-distance commuting in densely populated areas. After about a year, Toyota finally added the C+pod to the commercial lineup and opened it to all consumers.
The C+pod micro-electric vehicle was launched, not to compete with Smart, but mainly to increase the attention and popularity of electric vehicles in the Japanese market. At that time, it was expected to have the C+pod in the lineup of commercially available production vehicles around 2022, and with Toyota's large-scale investment in the electrification market, it is not a bad thing to add a pure electric product.
C+pods are basically only suitable for commuting in metropolitan areas, with a small body size and light weight, which can move freely on congested and narrow roads. But the sacrifice is the endurance, C+ pod single charge can only travel up to 150 kilometers, the speed of 60km/h, and the pure electricity production car launched in the past two years often 400 to 600 kilometers of the level, the difference is indeed somewhat obvious.
But considering that the C+pod is 2,490mm long and 1,290mm wide, it is only slightly larger than the iRoad electric tricycle, and even smaller than the Smart Fortwo. The battery capacity is only 9.06kWh, so the car is also very lightweight, only 690 kg. This represents a rear-wheel drive setting, a C+ pod with a maximum horsepower of only 12.3 hp, a relatively low price, and a much less cost for subsequent maintenance or battery replacement. The C+pod production version is available in G and X models, and even the top gauge is only 1.71 million yen.