RoboCar G: Japanese venture to sell electric robot car (videos)

We covered various products from Tokyo-based robotics venture ZMP in the past, including a mini robo car, but we never had the chance to blog about an actual robot car (from any company actually). Granted, it’s just a one-seater and not really “robotic”, but the so-called RoboCar G [JP], which is an electric vehicle, doesn’t look too bad and might be the beginning of a new trend.

The car will initially be offered to research institutions, which can go for extras like a laser range finder, a camera, a GPS module, a sonar sensor and other stuff. It’s powered by a lithium-ion battery (57.6V/10Ah) and is sized at 2480×1280×1370mm. ZMP says their vehicle boasts a maximum speed of 60km/h and can travel 30km when equipped with one battery or 60km with two batteries on board.

The company also claims buyers will have to pay just 0.05$ per km in running costs as opposed to the 0.14$ required for gasoline-powered vehicles. It says it applied years of experience in the robotics field in the design of the car.

The RoboCar G will be built to order, with the final price depending on the number of extras required. ZMP says the first cars are expected to be delivered around November this year.

Here are two RoboCar G promo videos (sorry for the bad quality):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl8bORD0F4&w=560&h=340]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZb5pjt0hEw&w=425&h=344]

Via Tech-On