The “E” in the name of Toyota’s legendary AE86 was there to designate it as a Corolla, but wouldn’t it be awesome if it stood for “electric” instead? Apparently someone at the company thought so; Toyota is showing off a conceptual version of what the icon of the 80s it would look like it was powered by batteries (or hydrogen). The two cars will be on display at the Tokyo Auto Salon, which runs from January 13 to 15.
The AE86 BEV Concept uses “electrification technologies cultivated by Lexus,” according to toyota website, with parts from a Tundra and Prius hybrid. Attached to the truck’s engine is something you don’t normally see in electric cars: a manual transmission. I can’t say I’m exactly sure what the drive stick would look like with a motor that can provide near-instantaneous torque, but I know I’d love to find out.
That being said, I don’t think the joyride will be super fast or last very long; while Toyota clearly strove to preserve much of the AE86’s original driving experience, according to jalopnik that engine could make as little as 48 horsepower, less than half the original. Plus, a Prius battery simply won’t get you very far.
Not that horsepower matters to me, I’m just a sucker for 80s shaped cars. For anyone looking to make a car with hardly any curves (ahem), here’s how you do it; not by copying PS1-era graphics, but by taking inspiration from geometric shapes, like the trapezoid. That is, as long as you’re trying to target people who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s watching anime like initial Dwhich famous presented an AE86 — and to which these concepts clearly pay homage with their paint jobs and stickers. I’ll admit that outside of that demographic, the general public probably isn’t clamoring for a return to boxy vehicles.
Toyota modified another AE86 to make its original engine run on hydrogen so that it can get the “sound and vibration hot spots” that it would from a gasoline engine, but without the carbon emissions, according to Toyota. Pointless to guess that some of the parts came from a Mirai, Toyota’s experiment with hydrogen which (sadly in my opinion) has not garnered much interest or investment in the United States. What Ars Technica pointsHowever, this car probably won’t be as efficient as a Mirai, or as fast as an unmodified AE86; There’s a reason most hydrogen vehicles use it in fuel cell form, rather than burning it in an engine.
While you’d probably go for the battery-powered version if you were buying any of these cars, the AE86 H2 Concept has one big advantage over the electric version: it has pop-up headlights, rather than fixed ones.
It’s not likely you’ll ever have that option. While Toyota hinted during his press conference that you’re at least thinking about trying to make things easier for people trying to convert their beloved cars away from gasoline, it’s not like there’s a ton of AE86s lying around to be restored and modified. The company stopped manufacturing them in 1987.
It looks like the AE86 BEV and H2 are destined to be on my “cars I want but can never get” list. They’ll be there along with the awesome Hyundai Grandeur EV we saw last year, a US version of the Honda E, and a Ford Maverick with AWD and hybrid systems sold at MSRP. (Ford, I know you can put those two things together because of the Get away Y F-150do it now!)
PS: If you want to see how these cars are put together, you can take a look this video detailing that process — though unless you understand Japanese, it’s going to be a mostly visual experience.
