uBox. (Image Credit: Clemson University/ Toyota)

Generation Z: Toyota Has Developed Your Futuristic Car

By Editorial Team Last updated Sep 7, 2017

Generation Z — the generation generally defined with birth years from the mid or late 1990s through the 2010s and those typically associated with widespread Internet usage at a young age— can rest easy knowing that Toyota has a futuristic vehicle in the works for them.

While Toyota’s vehicles are typically manufactured in Michigan, the company teamed up with graduate students from Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) in South Carolina to create uBox, a car designed for the next generation of car-buyers.

The car was designed, engineered and hand-built by the students over the course of a two-year collaboration with Toyota Motor North America designers and engineers.

The typical intended customer for uBox is a young entrepreneur who wants a vehicle that offers utility and recreation on the weekend, but also office space and other lifestyle uses during the week.

The uBox has a unique exterior, as well as a versatile interior that can be rearranged by moving seats or nesting them on the sliding tracks. The car’s vents, dashboard, and door trim can be completely personalized with the help of 3D printing technology, and its compact, dual-purpose, all-electric powertrain offers a fun driving experience and emission-free stationary energy to power consumer electronics via 110-volt sockets located throughout the vehicle.

uBox with passengers. (Image Credit: Clemson University) — *uBox with passengers. (Image Credit: Clemson University/Toyota)*

Another unique feature is the pultrusion technique that the students created, which allows composite carbon fiber rails to be bonded with aluminum to support a curved glass roof.

“The roof pultrusion was something unexpected and very interesting when they first started talking about the concept,” said Craig Payne, Toyota Executive Program Manager. “The fact that they were able to achieve an industry-first manufacturing technique as students speaks volumes for this program.”

Toyota and the Clemson team unveiled the uBox at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress and Exposition at the Cobo Center in Detroit.