Toyota FT-Bh Shows Future of Light Weight, 49g/km B-Segment

Toyota is hoping to revolutionize small cars with the new FT-Bh concept. The concept uses available materials in new ways to offer a total weight of 786kg, despite being larger than a Yaris. It is highly aerodynamic with a 0.235 drag coefficient. 

Power for the FT-Bh comes from a two-cylinder, 1.0 liter hybrid powertrain that uses 1.7l/100km and emits just 49g/km of CO2. That is about half of what is produced by a 1.0 liter Yaris, but the FT-Bh is 3.985m long, 1.695m wide and 1.4m tall. 

Toyota said that it would be possible to link the hybrid system up to a natural gas-fueled engine that would emit 38g/km of CO2 or a plug-in hybrid system that would lower emissions to 19g/km of CO2, but the plug-in hybrid would also raise weight. 

The achieve the weight loss, Toyota used high-strength steel, aluminum and magnesium. The combined weight of the engine, suspension and interior is 340kg, which had a huge effect on weight savings, because there was less load applied to the body; so those parts could also be lightened. 

Every part of the car was tested to be its most aerodynamic. The body creates an air curtain along the front extremities, the wheels were streamlined, and it uses latches instead of handles. 

The styling for the car is probably its most polarizing feature. The roof and other large panels are meant to look like fabric stretched taut. It uses thin A- and C-pillars to give it better visibility. The interior is also meant to look like taut fabric. 

The FT-Bh is a concept for now, but these are clearly technologies that Toyota is focusing on in the future.