This is Toyota’s latest experimental vehicle called the FT-Bh, and it there was an award for the weirdest concept car, it’d have probably won it. It appears to be modeled on a fish or something. Technologically advanced cars have always looked weird. The FT-Bh is hugely advanced, with a lightweight body, the latest generation of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, and clever aerodynamics. Some of this car’s technologies will be used in the upcoming production models.

The powerrain in this Toyota concept includes a two-cylinder, 1.0-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine. Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology can be modified to utilize a compressed natural gas hybrid (CNG-HV), with 38g/km CO₂ emissions; and a Plug-in hybrid (PHEV), emitting just 19g/km. In this car the system achieves an average fuel consumption of 134.5mpg and CO₂ emissions of just 49g/km.

The great efficiency of this system is mainly due to the light weight of the car. It weighs 340kg less than the new Yaris hybrid, which is astonishing.

The use of weight saving materials, advanced design and engineering and fiddling with the powertrain to shed a few stone there, are contributing factors to the kerb weight of just 786kg.

The shape of the body might not look very brilliant, but it is an aerodynamic masterpiece. It features air curtain intakes on the frontal extremities of the bodywork; air-stream alloy wheels; the replacement of airflow-disrupting door mirrors with cameras; latches in place of handles to open the doors; a pagoda-style roof with a dropped rear section; and a sharply cut rear end that incorporates an air outlet slit and an underfloor spoiler to smooth the flow of air away from the vehicle. Together these measures bring the Cd down from a B-segment/supermini average of about 0.29 to just 0.235.

The Bh could very well be considered as the minivan version of the Yaris. It is close in size to today’s Yaris, at 3,985mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,400mm tall, with a 2,570mm wheelbase. Of course Toyota will never put such a radical concept into produciton, but they love cars like this in Japan. Toyota says it demonstrates what can be achieved in terms of fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in an affordable family supermini.