AISIN Show the future of vans and minibus’s at CES 2020
The company Aisin may not be very familiar to many people but they are one of the largest ( sixth to be exact) Tier One suppliers to the automotive industry and therefore have a good handle on where the industry is going and to showcase this Aisin have developed a next generation people and cargo mover. They turnover $35 billion and the group has over 200 consolidated companies and employs approximately 120,000 people worldwide.
The zero emission “i-mobility TYPE-C20”, which is a bit of a mouthful is very similar to a host of concept electric vehicle with Level 4 autonomy such as the e.Go and the Toyota e-Palette. On this vehicle Aisin are concentrating on the typical three common core areas of Autonomy, Connectivity and Electrification.
The TYPE-C20 uses various Aisin products designed for EVs, such as AISIN’s eAxle which is specifically designed for electric motive power; regenerative brake system; electric ramp and lower, rail-free power sliding doors; and heat management and optimal thermal control. These products all allow more space for a larger battery providing extended range although the company are a little vague on the battery / motor specifications.
Perhaps one of the more interesting additions to the concept vehicle was the integration of an electric “scooter” called “ILY-Ai “ into the design, which according to Aisin, is the world’s first multi-functional, electric intelligent personal mobility vehicle, it basically looks like a scooter.
The product is capable of human image recognition and has built-in intelligent safety systems based on robotics technology preventing it from colliding with people or things. Using vehicle navigation technology, it can optimise the route, if we combine all these functions into one system one can easily see this product could soon become a courier / parcel delivery system with a little “fine-tuning” and not much else.