Hotshot models among environment-minded mobility trial choices.

TWO hugely potent red-blooded Gazoo Racing gems are availed in a Green-minded mobility trial being run by Toyota New Zealand in Nelson.

Toyota New Zealand says the ‘Toyota Mobility’ project is an expansion to the CityHop car sharing service, which it owns and will test the potential of a national roll out.  

“Our vision is to provide affordable and accessible mobility … that may not solely focus on ownership,” says TNZ chief executive Neeraj Lala. 

“We have been passionate about exploring multiple ways to decarbonise our mobility eco-system for the past decade and this includes through innovative mobility as a service projects.”

 His view is that society is moving towards a world where access to mobility will be equally valuable as ownership.

 “The beauty of this scheme is the right vehicle for the right job at the right time. It showcases the potential for a future with less car ownership, less congestion, more flexible mobility and few carbon emissions.”

 TNZ holds that, as digital platforms advance, customer access to vehicles will be improved and new ownership models like those adopted by Toyota are revolutionising how people use and share vehicles. 

 The cars on offer are intriguing. In addition to a selection of mainstream models, there are also two high-performance icons: The GR Yaris developed from Toyota’s rally programme and the GR Supra, co-developed with BMW. TNZ says access to those hotshots requires pre-approval, but has not explained that process. Same goes for those wanting to run a Land Cruiser 300-Series.

 For the more prosaic, there are seven hybrids – a Yaris hatch plus various sports utilities ranging in size from the Raize (a small sports utility that sells in Japan), to a Highlander – plus a Hilux utility and a single electric car, a Lexus UX300e.

 Users gain access with a phone app and can subscribe or pay by the hour service; with the Raize the first works out to just over $10 an hour (with a $500 pack paying for 46 hours) rising to $15 per hour. Tariffs for the GR product is not mentioned. The programme is being run by the city’s Toyota franchise.

 Fuel is included in the price if customers book a vehicle for under two hours and travel under 70kms.