First Experience - Toyota C+Pod

As promised, this is my quick review on Toyota C+pod BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) that I drove for 2 hours today.

I booked the car through Trac2Go apps, which is created by PT Serasi AutoRaya, member of Astra Group.

Originally there are 3 options, the smallest 1 seater, the 2 seaters and Prius PHEV. I will try PHEV later. I found out about the promotion from Toyota mobile apps which in collaboration with SERA to book. Using Trac2go apps, under "experience" we can book the car.

The C+Pod size is small and unique in size. From the web overall length is 2.49m, width is 1.29m and height is 1.55m. Turning ratio is around 3.9m.

It has electric power (1RM) with power of 9,2 kW (equal to 12,3 hp) and max torque of 56 Nm

Specs stated that C+pod has top speed of 60km/hour and distance of around 150km when full battery.

First, I tried to fit in my weekend small golf Bag in the back area, which after several try, it could fit in.

I forgot to tell you that this mini car can be locked and unlocked using an Apps and connecting using bluetooth. First, we need to install this Apps called SLICK.

and it needs to be connected to Internet, so the guy at the pickup point warn me not to go to areas without proper Signal.

So after unlocking the car, as usual, we pressed the brake and turned on the power. After turned on, it shows 150km distance and as soon as I turn on the aircon, it dropped into 80km.

There are only 3 driving mode, which is N (neutral), R (reverse) and D (Drive) which are in form of Button in the dashboard.

There is no Power-steering in the car for Safety, so when turning from complete stop it may feel a bit heavy.

the 2 seats are very close to each other, so dont bother driving this in the same car when having a fight with your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse :). in the image below you can see the 3 button for R, N and D.

ummm, ,there is no radio on this mini car.

Ok, now about the drive. First I heard a lot of noise from the motor, like humming and high pitched and also can really feel the tire noise from the road, especially in a rough road.

at 30km it was fine, but above it, well, lets just say the thrill of driving the car reduced my focus to the noise.

The car has enough speed and torque in the normal road, but when we go into hilly area, when I tried to step down on the pedal to get some boost, the car rattled a bit. Going up and down normally at around 20-25% degree downhill/uphill has no major issue.

then I tried to bring this car to more narrow road, I managed to go a small lanes near the sea and finally end up to this area that I dont think tourist ever come before .....

in short, I was lost. and during this time, suddenly an alert in the dashboard showing BLINKING key logo. I have no idea what this meant :).

anyway, I quickly reached out to my Digital map, tried to get back to the drop area, and went as fast as I could (safely) before some curious big guys starting to approach.

well overall, the experience was fun, especially in the small road when we encountered Big Dump truck and only have space for a motorcycle to passthrough, and we were able to pass.

Improvement point maybe need better sound proof and radio. Did I tell you that the window using a "sliding mechanism"? :).

anyway, after 2 hours, in about 25km, it seems the car only lose 1 bar of battery.

if possible, would like to try the PRIUS PHEV next time.

Nice to see the progress of electric vehicle by Toyota.