by Shane Kite
Provided by 
Japanese manufacturers usually go wild with their concept cars during the Tokyo Motor Show and introduce experimental vehicles that may or may not appear on the roads someday। The crop of crazy concepts this year is largely an eco-friendly group of small vehicles, some of which are tiny enough to serve as personal mobility devices. Below are all of the world debuting concept vehicles from this year's show, which was held from Oct. 27 through Nov. 11, 2007.
Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport
The Mitsubishi i MiEV SPORT is a zero-emissions plug-in electric mini-car that is the performance version of the automaker's innovative Electric Vehicle, or "MiEV." In-wheel motors up front and a special all-wheel-drive system, called Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC), make this Volkswagen Beetle-looking car highly maneuverable as well as responsive, the automaker said. A single motor drives the rear wheels. An electronic all-wheel-drive system optimizes the output of all three electric motors (the two up front and one at the rear). Besides using regenerative braking technology as is already incorporated on current hybrid vehicles, the i MiEV Sport includes a couple of other innovative features that help charge the vehicle's battery pack: an auxiliary photovoltaic generator on the roof captures and converts sunlight into electricity and a fan inside the front grill harness wind power. The small coupe has a range of 124 miles and top speed of 112 mph. The taillights and the interior use power-saving LEDs, and heat-absorbing window glass is meant to curb the use of air conditioning. "Green plastic," Mitsubishi's plant-based resin technology, is used where possible to cut down on interior components that could end up in landfills. The automaker said that occupants are protected in collisions from any direction, even when colliding with a vehicle of different height or weight, due to the car's layout and use of Mitsubishi's latest Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE) body.
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