Near the Eiffel Tower, the Japanese carmaker has set up a hospitality centre in relation to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: the Toyota House. The objective is to provide a better understanding of Toyota’s vision and of tomorrow’s mobility.
As you may know, Toyota has deployed a large fleet of vehicles for the Olympics. More than 2,600 in total, all of them electrified, including 500 running on hydrogen. ‘It’s impossible not to see us,’ said Cédric Borremans, Toyota Motor Europe’s Olympic representative yesterday. In addition to its cars, buses and lorries that will be roaming around the capital and even the Ile-de-France region, the manufacturer has also set up a number of spots. There is the famous Mobility Park, where the APMs (Accessible People Mover) and all these personal mobility devices developed by Toyota or its partners can be seen. This park is located at the Bir Hakeim metro station, near the Eiffel Tower.
Just next door, on the banks of the Seine, the Japanese giant has taken over the Cap15 business centre as its HQ. Entirely revamped in the image of the games, this site, known as ‘Toyota House’, enables the group to communicate on a wide range of subjects. It’s all about sport, with a wall covered in portraits of athletes sponsored by Toyota, as well as the hydrogen-powered Olympic torch from the Tokyo Games. Animations on the screen show the locations where the vehicles are located and refer to partnerships, such as the one with Energy Observer.
A fresco on mobility at the Toyota House
Mobility is never far from the manufacturer’s mind. In the basement, an exhibition showcases developments in mobility, from electrification (1.0) and shared mobility (2.0) to the synergy between vehicles, data, energy and infrastructure (3.0). The only car on show is electric (the Lexus LF-ZC concept), but there are many references to hydrogen. A fresco shows a multitude of means of transport, on land (forklifts), on water (Finx Motors and Energy Observer), in the air (Joby Aviation’s flying taxi) and even in space with the Lunar Cruiser.
And just like at the Mobility Park, there are the famous hydrogen capsules. They are on display next to an e-Palette minibus. But above all, the hydrogen spot is gathered in the form of mock-ups of cars, buses, lorries and so on.
Designed to accommodate 7,000 guests during the Olympic Games, the Toyota House will also be hosting conferences. Hydrogen will unquestionably be one of the topics discussed during the Games.
Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King
