Mitsubishi Electric Coming to the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show

Every two years, the big auto show in Tokyo takes place. It’s the biennial Tokyo Motor Show, and Mitsubishi Motors is always one to debut a new vehicle at the show. We’ve discussed the upcoming new Mitsubishi electric SUV set to be unveiled later this month (October 2019), but there’s another section of Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) that also tends to join the sibling – Mitsubishi Electric. The same department of MMC that brought all those neat autonomous and virtual assistant features to the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The very same company just announced that it will be hosting its own exhibit of cutting-edge technologies and products following the partnership between Mitsubishi and MaaS Global.

46th Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show is one of the five big auto shows to look forward to, alongside the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, the (Frankfurt) International Motor Show in Germany, and the Paris Motor Show. In 2019, the Tokyo Motor Show will really be opening its doors to the vehicles of tomorrow. Just check out that banner!

So many self-driving and autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, artificial intelligence pets, personal transportation, it’s like a collage of the future. Every two years, the Tokyo Motor Show comes to town and every time it has a different theme. In 2017, it was “Beyond the Motor”. In 2019, it’s two simple words – Open Future.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp and MaaS Global

MaaS Global Oy is the company behind the mobile app Whim. It’s an all-in-one app based in Finland that offers consumers to purchase monthly subscription plans (or use a pay-as-you-go method) to get access to public and personal transport. This means unlimited access to rental cars; taxis; buses, Metro, ferry, and commuter trains (currently in its homeland, Helsingin seudun liikenne; and bike rentals. MMC recently made a large investment in MaaS Global to make Whim a world-wide available app and service. Currently, they’re working towards launching the Whim app in Vienna, Singapore, and several cities in Japan, and by 2020, MaaS Global expects to open in Miami and Chicago in the states and Vancouver, B.C. in Canada.

Mitsubishi Electric at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show

Celebrating this recent partnership between parent corp MMC and MaaS Global, taking over the main stage for the Mitsubishi Electric exhibit will be a concept video presenting a shared vision, “Mobility for better days,”. In a few words, that banner is their vision – a future MaaS society based on a wide range of advanced technologies and comfortable ways to travel for everyone. In addition to that, the concept model EMIRAI S will also be on display, demonstrating an innovative human-machine interface for enhancing communication from inside and outside of the vehicle and biological sensing technology. A demonstration of this will take place during the show.

During the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Mitsubishi Electric debuted the Emirai4, the company’s take on a self-driving vehicle and so far the one Mitsubishi Motors as a whole may be leaning towards. It’s autonomous and comes with an artificially intelligent (AI) system, a sort of virtual coach that can help drivers on the road during different driving conditions, and if need be, take over completely. At the same time, Mitsubishi Electric will be showcasing another autonomous-driving vehicle, xAUTO.

A second video will be available, demonstrating experimental activities performed by Mitsubishi Electric to test their autonomous driving in areas where high-accuracy maps are not available and tests with fully autonomous driving. Lastly, Mitsubishi Electric will have several displays showing a variety of future products for autonomous driving, hybrid to electric cars, energy-management technology, and bidirectional wireless-power-transfer technology.

Mitsubishi Electric sure has a lot planned for the 46th Tokyo Motor Show. When it comes every two years, there’s bound to be plenty of planning ahead. Follow along with University Mitsubishi on social media to learn more about the technology Mitsubishi Electric has at the exhibit.

Photo Source/Copyright: tokyo-motorshow.com