Stealing the limelight at the Mitsubishi stand and arguably even the 2019 Tokyo motor show itself was the Mi-Tech Concept buggy.
While it’s one of the more outlandish things we’ve seen come out of this motor show, it isn’t what you’d call alien either. Its bonkers ‘look at me!’ looks are complimented by an almost equally bonkers powertrain. But at second glance, it isn’t as outlandish as it seems.
While the buggy’s front fascia is derived from the brand’s Dynamic Shield design language that’s seen on various Mitsubishi models currently on sale, the rest of it such as the massive wheel arches, chunky go-anywhere tyres and slender embedded headlights are your average motor show concept staples.
The next seemingly bonkers thing on this roof less, doorless small buggy is its PHEV powertrain. However, instead of a conventional internal combustion engine like you would ordinarily find in a standard PHEV, the buggy comes with a gas turbine, which is something like a jet engine for all intents and purposes. Cost notwithstanding, it’s a more efficient use of fuel to generate electricity given the size and weight of the turbine itself.
Another benefit of using a gas turbine is the flexibility of running a variety of different fuels such as kerosene, diesel and ethanol depending on regional availability. Perhaps in the future we might see PHEVs with this generator instead of an internal combustion engine.
The turbine power generator supplies go-juice to the Quad Motor 4WD system with Active Yaw Control on both axles which means it’s able to transfer power optimally to wheels with the most grip. Pretty standard stuff.
As seen on the Super Height K-Wagon concept, the Mi-Tech Concept buggy features advanced driver assistance and preventative safety technology such as Human Machine Interface (HMI) which displays various information detected through advanced optical sensors on an augmented reality windshield. Also equipped is the MI-PILOT driver assistance technology.
While it’s unlikely the Mi-Tech Concept buggy will ever see the inside of your Mitsubishi showroom, the brand intends to implement the technology and safety systems debuted here on their cars by 2022.
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