Toyota’s new concept car is made primarily of wood

Toyota will be present at the Milan Design Week next month with a concept car that is far from ordinary. The electric Setsuna (“moment” in Japanese) is an attractive new concept car made primarily of wood. The engine is electric and dimensions slightly larger than a smart automobile at 3,03m. However, the vehicle isn’t expected to be more than just a concept and an interesting project prototype.

The exterior is mainly made of Japanese cedar, while Japanese birch was used for the frame. According to the automaker, the car assembly followed a traditional Japanese joinery technique called okuriari, which eliminates the need for nails or screws.

“The decision to use wood—a material that is durable yet prone to change over time — reflects Toyota’s efforts to give form to the developing relationships between people and their cars,” the company said. “Toyota is expressing the notion that, as a family accrues time and experiences together with their car, lovingly caring for it and passing it on to the next generation, that car will acquire a new type of value that only the members of that family can appreciate.”

The brand said that Setsuna can last for generations, if well cared for. Proof of this is that the model includes a 100-year meter that will keep time up to one hundred years.