Toyota has invested $ 800 million in autonomous vehicles, communications services and smart cities. Behind this is the investment fund Woven Capital, which supports the development of technology companies.
Toyota, with a $ 800 million contribution, is setting up Woven Capital to support the development of technology companies. It will become part of the future Woven group, which will become Toyota-Advanced Development Research Institute, a research company specializing in the development of software for cars, including specifically for autonomous vehicles, early next year. It also includes Woven Planet Holdings, Woven CORE and Woven Alphaw.
One of the group's flagships is the experimental Woven City. It will be built near mount Fuji. It will be intelligent, Autonomous, eco-friendly, emission-free and energy self-sufficient. Other important projects of the group are Woven to Arene and Automated Mapping Platform (AMP), public platforms created by TRI-AD for wide use.
Woven City aims to become a fully self-sufficient city. Buildings should be constructed primarily of wood to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Their construction uses both traditional Japanese bonding and woodworking techniques, as well as modern approaches using robots. The roofs of buildings should be completely covered with photovoltaic panels, but the main source of electricity should be fuel cells that run on oxygen.
The transport system should be based on internal roads, divided into three categories - streets for cars, pedestrian streets for personal and pedestrian vehicles, and promenades that resemble parks exclusively for pedestrians. The three route types are designed to interweave with each other, creating an environment for testing autonomous vehicles. The project did not forget about the greenery. Planting of vegetation is planned, both characteristic of this site and hydroponic plants. A plaza will be created in the center for meetings and social events. A central park will be built next to it, and small local parks are planned between the apartments.
The apartments built in Woven City will, of course, be equipped with the latest technologies – home robots, artificial intelligence systems and other solutions to improve the quality of life. Toyota unveiled some of these solutions at this year's Tokyo motor show.
Initially, the city will host 2,000 people – Toyota employees and company contractors along with their families, as well as retirees and part-time research teams. Construction will begin in 2021.