The Japan Mobility Show 2025 is currently underway in Tokyo. The event, put on by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, has brought together more than 500 stakeholders from a cross-section of industries to share their vision for the future of mobility.
The event offers a mix of flying car concepts, like the $160,000 Star Walker that looks more like a jet pack inside an X8 configuration drone, and novel technologies, like Mitsubishi's Urban Hawk, which detects and analyzes deteriorating road surfaces, and Honda's EV Outlier motorcycle concept that promises a new vision for motorcycles beyond 2030.
However, the concept that could fulfill market demand for an untapped automotive market, was Toyota's Mobi, an electric bubble car for kids that can take them to any destination without an adult on board.
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First reported by Designboom, Mobi looks more like an escape pod than a car. The door swings open from the front, operating more like a frunk. According to Toyota, the novel concept is autonomous and uses AI to control navigation, speed, and maneuvering through traffic. The child, depending on his or her age, can even communicate with the UX Friend, Mobi's AI assistant.
The seat is covered with a fuzzy material to increase comfort, and the lights also double as digital displays to mimic expressive eyes.
Toyota hasn't given any indication that the concept car will advance with further development or testing, and it's petite, so it's unlikely to survive an accident. Still, it does shed light on an ongoing problem for parents: child transportation.
The 2025 State of School Transportation from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research explored the increasing challenges schools and parents face with transportation.
According to the study, 56% of parents report feeling stressed about their children's transportation at least a few times each year, and 25% are stressed at least monthly. Some 35% have missed work, and 11% have lost a job because they needed to take their kids to and from school or other activities.
If better options were available, about half of parents would be at least somewhat likely to enroll their children in more extracurricular activities or school services. As to whether that's some version of Toyota's autonomous kid pod, we shall see.
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